Frustrated by inaction on housing finance reform, a dozen conservative organizations led by the National Taxpayers Union called on Congress to begin recapitalizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The coalition of center-right organizations urged Congress to pass H.R. 4913, the “Housing Finance Restructuring Act of 2016.” They said the Treasury sweep of the government-sponsored enterprises’ profits implemented in 2012 has “jeopardized” the financial system and taxpayers. “If there is one thing this presidential campaign has revealed, it is...

Residential lenders that rely on “downpayment assistance” programs (DPAs) operated by state housing finance agencies are growing nervous about a lengthy and ongoing audit being conducted by the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Late this week, a spokesman for the HUD IG’s office confirmed to Inside Mortgage Finance that audit has yet to be completed. “It’s getting into the final stages,” he said. “We originally thought it would be done in early 2016.” He stressed...

A paper recently published by the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research detailed links between changes in underwriting standards at banks and the banks’ loan application denial rates and mortgage performance. While the findings are intuitive, the paper from the OFR was the first to match individual lenders’ confidential responses to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey with data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. “We find...

When Freddie recently unveiled a first-quarter loss due to hedges affected by falling interest rates, MBA chief Dave Stevens issued a statement once again calling for Congress to enact housing-finance reform, but said nothing about the issue of zero capital.

DFA also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that seems almost universally loathed by the mortgage industry.

UWM is offering “rate incentives” for jumbo borrowers with FICO scores north of 740, and a promise to close the loan in 25 days or less…

The attorneys noted: “The CFPB declined to state what the forms do represent, if anything.”

At March 31, the Anaheim, CA-based FCI had $4.2 billion of servicing contracts on its books.

“This is a seminal change,” one GSE observer told us.

“The QM rule needs to stand on its own two feet … The FHFA should not be in charge of setting national mortgage underwriting,” said MBA chief Dave Stevens.