While the housing finance reform legislation authored by Sens. Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Mike Crapo, R-ID, recognizes the “distinct nature and role of the Federal Home Loan Banks,” concern remains that the bill’s treatment of FHLBank regulation within the proposed regulator could lead to a conflict of interest that impedes the 12 Banks and their members, according to the American Bankers Association. An ABA memo to the members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee suggested that lawmakers leave regulation of the FHLBanks with either an independent agency or strengthen the bill’s proposed regulatory firewalls.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will begin to collect additional, more specific personal information on borrowers and loans as part of the National Mortgage Database project the agency is developing in concert with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. An FHFA announcement and request for comment published in the April 28 Federal Register notes that under a “revised system of records,” the database will begin collecting demographic and personal contact info for borrowers and their households, as well as loan-level data on mortgage performance.

Officials at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enthusiastically jumped on board a high-profile effort begun by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week to promote eClosings as a way to reduce or eliminate many of the “pain points” associated with the mortgage closing process. At a public forum at its headquarters in Washington, DC, the CFPB announced it would launch a new, voluntary pilot project later this year that supporters hope will re-invigorate government housing agency officials, mortgage bankers and industry technology representatives and take their previous efforts related to eMortgages to a much higher level.

KBW: Fannie, Freddie Emerging From Conservatorship ‘Increasingly Plausible.’ The battle over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac likely will rage on for the rest of the decade, but it’s “increasingly plausible” that the two government-controlled mortgage giants will emerge from conservatorship, according to a new report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. However, KBW Analyst Brian Gardner readily admits that the firm is unsure “how or when” the Treasury Department or Federal Housing Finance Agency can legally take the two out of conservatorship.

As previously reported by Inside Mortgage Trends, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau did in fact announce plans last week to roll out a voluntary eClosing pilot project later this year – along with guidelines that lay out the minimum functions required of participants as well as the features the CFPB wants to test in the pilot. To join the bureau’s pilot on electronic closings, each participant must have a system that meets minimal technical capabilities and requirements ...

Mortgage industry participants should expect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to cast both a wider and deeper dragnet of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data compared to the Federal Reserve’s oversight of the nearly 40-year-old law, according to CoreLogic. A new CoreLogic report forecasts a more muscular collection of industry information following the Dodd-Frank Act’s transfer of HMDA supervision and enforcement from the Fed to the bureau, including a significant shift in ...

Although Garrett declined to comment further on the matter, attorneys that represent lenders before the CFPB were happy to share their opinions on the "under oath" issue.

Industry officials who have studied the issue contend that the Treasury Department does not have the legal right to give Fannie and Freddie back to their junior and common shareholders. In short, it would take an act of Congress.

The TV ad we viewed is so glowing in praise that one might think the GSEs themselves produced it.

The status of housing finance reform legislation has become a topic of open speculation after the leadership of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee announced a last-minute postponement of a markup this week following the submission of some 100 amendments and the continued non-commitment of support by some committee Democrats. Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-ID, announced to a packed committee chamber earlier this week that they would delay consideration of S. 1217 in order to “build a larger coalition of support” for their reform measure. “While we have the votes to report the bill out today, members of the committee have asked...