MBA chief Dave Stevens: “What happens if the president nominates a new [FHFA] director who thinks the government role in mortgage finance is too large and wants to scale it back?"
Cowen: “We continue to believe the Senate Banking Committee must release a legislative plan in 2017 for Fannie and Freddie if it is to be enacted in the 115th Congress.”
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said the likelihood of a draw from Treasury is growing fast in a reply letter to the 15 trade groups that wrote late last month advocating for legislation instead of recapitalization. Watt reiterated his position in the Oct. 12 letter and said while he appreciates their views, he has expressed “repeatedly and publicly” that the declining capital buffers leave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with no ability to absorb potential losses. “FHFA is concerned that in the absence of a sufficient buffer, normal operating losses, such as from interest rate volatility and the accounting treatment of...
Preferred Language Question Added to the URLA. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced on Oct. 20 that it decided to add a preferred language question to the redesigned URLA. The regulator noted that the question will enable borrowers who prefer to communicate in a language other than English to identify that language. They said that it also provides clear disclosures that the mortgage transaction is likely to be conducted in English and that language resources may not be available. FHFA Director Mel Watt said following stakeholder outreach and input the agency has taken steps to mitigate concerns about the inclusion of a language preference question. Fannie Exec Withdrew Treasury Job Consideration. Brian Brooks, Fannie’s general counsel, decided to opt out of being...
The GSEs are also working toward issuing credit-risk transfer deals as real estate mortgage investment conduits, which would allow REITs to hold more of the assets.
Plenty of executives we’ve spoken to the past few months believe the industry is in for a considerable spate of M&A in the year ahead. Then again, we’ve heard that prediction before...
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