As they approach their eighth year in conservatorship, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generate a lot of revenue for the government and dominate the conventional-conforming mortgage market. But both government-sponsored enterprises are forced to hold less and less capital, and a bad quarter or two could force another round of bailouts. Aside from lawsuits by disgruntled GSE shareholders, pressure appears to be growing for a new approach that would allow the two to rebuild their capital. According to reports, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-SC, may introduce such a bill in one of the least hospitable places it could land, the House Financial Services Committee. As of press time Mulvaney’s office has not returned...

Besides Fidelity, other institutional investors have slashed their holdings in the company, fearing that its best days are behind it.

Many left-leaning politicians have complained that Wall Street executives got off the hook for the financial crisis...

Former Fannie executive Tim Rood, now chairman and founder of the Collingwood Group, said "the current posture by the administration is pretty indefensible.”

All issuers must comply with the revised requirements, which take effect immediately, in order to remain an eligible participant in the Ginnie Mae program.

The CFPB’s QM standards currently don’t differ for loans held in portfolio or sold to other outlets.

M&T Bank Settles Allegations It Used ‘Neighborhood Racial Criteria’ for Mortgage Product. A court approved M&T Bank's settlement with the Fair Housing Justice Center under which the Buffalo, NY-based bank will pay $485,000 while agreeing to revise its residential origination policies. The nonprofit FHJC filed a lawsuit in February after investigating the bank’s “Get Started Program.” The mortgage product is aimed at homes in “majority minority” neighborhoods or in low- or moderate-income areas. The product is for first-time homebuyers and it allows for low downpayments and the ability to finance closing costs. The FHJC found that M&T loan officers discriminated against potential borrowers based on race and national origin, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act. Among other issues, minority ...

FCC Order Conflicts With CFPB Mortgage Servicing Rules, Other Foreclosure Prevention Efforts, Industry Group Says. A recent order from the Federal Communications Commission clarifying certain provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act clashes with the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rule and other federal regulations designed to help struggling homeowners hold onto their homes, a representative of national mortgage lenders, servicers and service providers wrote top government officials last week. The FCC’s order, released June 18, 2015, aims to bolster consumer protections against unwanted telephone calls and texts by, in part, restricting the ability of mortgage servicers, debt collectors and others to make autodialed or prerecorded phone calls without prior express consent of the person called. Violators face strict liability for noncompliance...

FDIC Official Calls for Broader QM Parameters. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig recently came out in support of congressional legislation to expand the kinds of loans that can be deemed qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. However, with Congress coming back from its annual August recess this week, the biggest hurdle facing such measures may be whether lawmakers feel enough urgency to act by year’s end. Among other provisions, Hoenig called for mortgages held in portfolios of certain banks to be defined as QMs and receive the protections established by the bureau for such mortgages. To qualify, under Hoenig’s proposal, banks would have to be “more traditional” institutions that emphasize the core commercial banking model and ...

The CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency jointly released two technical reports recently about the development of the National Mortgage Database (NMDB) and the quarterly National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (NSMB). The NMDB project is a multi-year project being jointly undertaken by the two agencies. “The project is designed to provide a rich source of information about the U.S. mortgage market based on a five percent sample of residential mortgages,” the first technical report stated. The NMDB will enable the FHFA to meet current statutory requirements to conduct a national mortgage market survey, collect data on the characteristics of individual mortgages, including those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and those that are not, and including ...