The Federal Housing Finance Agency is requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to promptly notify the agency whenever they detect fraud “or other financial misconduct” with any business entity they have done business with during the past three years.

Marc Savitt, president of National Association of Independent Housing Professionals, a broker/appraiser trade group, noted that the short-term outlook for the sector looks difficult.

The mortgage industry has been anxiously waiting to see the new RESPA-TILA disclosure rule.

FHA mortgages were used to finance 22 percent of home purchases in September, based on the three-month moving average.

Addressing the annual convention of the American Bankers Association, the CFPB chief stressed that his agency is proceeding full speed ahead with the January implementation of its mortgage rules.

CashCall, a refi specialist that sells most of its production to Fannie Mae, is shedding a large chunk of its staff.

At least two young mortgage insurance firms hope to go public by yearend. But how might the market receive these deals with so much uncertainty surrounding the GSEs?

Thanks to the government shutdown, the FHA backlog includes processing endorsements for home-equity conversion mortgages.

Meanwhile, sources told Inside Mortgage Finance that the FHFA is looking to extract several billion dollars from Bank of America to settle claims that its Countrywide Financial division sold the GSEs toxic MBS.

Previously, speculation has ranged from January 1 to June 30. Mortgage bankers told Inside Mortgage Finance that whatever the FHFA decides on an implementation date, it had better do so soon.