A recent court ruling that affirmed the validity of claims that the GSE net worth sweep breached an implied covenant of good faith is a big deal for shareholders, according to the plaintiff’s attorney.David Thompson of Cooper and Kirk told Inside The GSEs this week that U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s decision is a “significant victory” for the plaintiffs.

A federal judge in Washington last week dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit against Zillow, ruling its co-marketing program does not violate the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders received a bit of good news late last week when a judge sided with them on one of their arguments against the government.

The mortgage banking industry is optimistic about Congress enacting legislation that would cure VA orphan loans before the midterm elections. The U.S. Senate still has time to consider H.R. 6737, the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, according to Bill Kilmer, chief lobbyist at the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Most observers think [lawmakers are] going to be around until Oct. 18 or 19, which is when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to keep folks around to work on nominations and other measures they need to clear,” Kilmer said. “There is time and, more to the substantive point, the bill passed the House.” H.R. 6737 would provide a technical fix so that certain VA refinance loans would be eligible for pooling in a Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed security. The bill was reported out of committee by a unanimous 49-0 vote, and was approved quickly by the House ...

FHA Issues Waiver of Property Inspections in Disaster-Stricken California Counties. FHA has issued a waiver of its timing policy for completing property inspections prior to closing or endorsing a loan for FHA insurance. The waiver is in effect in presidentially declared major disaster areas in Lake and Shasta Counties, CA, that were ravaged by wildfires and high winds. FHA believes that the wildfires and high winds have stabilized so as not to cause any further damage to properties, even though FEMA has not declared “all clear” in the affected areas. The waiver allows damage inspections to be completed after Oct. 2, for properties located in the PDMDA. NC Commissioner of Banks Amends State Reverse Mortgage Rules. The North Carolina Commissioner of Banks recently amended its ...

With just three months left in Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt’s term, it’s still uncertain whether he will ride out his appointment until January 6 as planned or resign because of sexual harassment allegations. Last week during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, lawmakers heard from both Watt and his accuser, Simone Grimes, about harassment that she said began in 2015. At the hearing, Watt fought back against the allegations and questioned the committee’s ...

While the CFPB is responsible for ensuring fairness to American consumers in their financial affairs, the agency is now facing workplace discrimination and retaliation charges from former and current agency employees. A class action complaint was filed against the CFPB and Acting Director Mick Mulvaney in September, alleging discrimination and retaliation against minority and female workers. The complaint was filed to the U.S. District Court for the ...

Harassment complaints filed against Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt took center stage during a House Financial Services Committee hearing late this week in which his accuser testified that the agency, along with its inspector general, treated her unfairly. Simone Grimes began her career at the FHFA in 2010 and became a special advisor in 2015. She complained that she was not given the same benefits as her predecessor in this temporary role and was advised that Watt would ...

Lawmakers who scheduled a hearing about a month ago to discuss oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency instead found themselves questioning FHFA Director Mel Watt about sexual harassment claims by one of his employees. During the day-long House Financial Services Committee hearing, which included his accuser Simone Grimes, FHFA Inspector General Laura Wertheimer, and the GSE CEOs, Watt fought back against the allegations. He painted his relationship with Grimes as a mentor/mentee-type interaction and questioned the committee’s decision to even allow Grimes to use that forum when she has a lawsuit pending. But Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, who admitted to having a close friendship with Watt, said, “It’s a new...

Ginnie Mae assured the mortgage industry that it would accept so-called VA orphan loans as long as they satisfy the terms of corrective legislation passed by the House Financial Services Committee recently. “As long as the mortgage loan complies with the law, we will accept it and put our guarantee on it,” said an agency spokesperson in response to an Inside FHA/VA Lending inquiry. Ginnie’s assurance provides certainty to a subset of VA loans that have been in limbo since June because they could not be delivered into Ginnie mortgage-backed securities. Lawmakers responded to industry calls for a legislative fix last week by voting overwhelmingly to approve H.R. 6737, the “Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2018.” Introduced by Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-NY, the bill would eliminate the seasoning requirements in the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Act reform legislation, which conflicted with ...