Bair, a native of Kansas, came to Washington under the wing of then-Senator Bob Dole in the early 1980s.

The limits would be higher for mortgages backed by 2-4 unit properties, as well as loans in designated high-cost markets.

Fannie’s whole-loan portfolio increased 2.8% during the quarter, while Freddie’s grew 3.8%...

Black Knight tracks daily performance data on over 23 million mortgages covering more than 60% of the market. MBA’s survey encompasses 38 million loans from roughly 50 servicers.

But the strong results are likely to cause some blowback. Come Dec. 1, their seller-servicers face a 50-basis point “adverse market” fee on most new refis. With Fannie and Freddie registering such strong profits — and with the forbearance picture continuing to improve — the rancor that lenders feel on the issue is likely to worsen.

At the same time, Fannie’s issuance of short-term debt nosedived, as the government-controlled mortgage giant took advantage of low interest rates...

On Friday, Black Knight Financial released its forbearance tally, saying cases declined by 11,000 units for the seven-day period, ending October 20. Roughly, three million mortgagors remain in active COVID-related relief programs, the analytics firm noted.

Nielson’s friend of the court filing is tightly reasoned and well organized. However...

“While 2003 was a bigger overall mortgage year than 2020 will be, the GSE portion of the market is larger and will likely push this into the biggest year for Fannie and Freddie ever,” said Dave Stevens, the former FHA commissioner.

David Brickman, Frater’s counterpart at Freddie, expressed similar sentiments: “Costs have changed. Risks have changed. We’ve put in place an appropriate and prudent response to that change in the external environment for us to support struggling homeowners.”