FHFA issued changes to RPL/NPL sales in a new fact sheet, addressing some concerns raised by critics of previous sale policies.

The existing partial claim option isn’t effective because interest rates are so much higher now than when most FHA borrowers signed their present mortgage, analysts at the Urban Institute noted.

Average loan sizes on mortgage applications are shrinking.

The volume of new home equity line of credit commitments and closed-end second liens originated in the first quarter of 2023 declined by 19.0% compared with the previous quarter.

Ed DeMarco, president of the Housing Policy Council, said that while claiming to codify existing FHFA practice, the proposal “does not address FHFA’s practices related to fair housing and fair lending enforcement.”

“What you don’t want to have to do is sell those assets when rates are so much higher because you’re going to take a loss,” Teresa Bazemore, CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, said of bank holdings on MBS.

Acra Lending has turned a profit in six of the past seven years.

The CFPB has been increasing its expertise in data science and analytics so that it can spot fair lending violations throughout the lending process.

Wells originated $5.08 billion of conventional-conforming loans through the correspondent channel in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, the bank’s production in the channel was down to only $500 million.

New American funded $2.0 billion of home mortgages in 1Q23, most of it through the retail channel.