The FHFA and Chicago settled a legal battle that started in November 2011 regarding maintenance and fees for vacant properties.

The EXPIRE Act also includes a provision to extend the mortgage insurance premium tax deduction. In a letter supporting the tax extensions to the committee, the Mortgage Bankers Association estimated that for a $200,000 home, homeowners would be able to deduct between $600 and $1,000 from their taxes.

The chairman and CEO of CapWealth Advisors – a private equity firm with stakes in the GSEs – was critical of all the housing reform bills introduced so far and the premise that Fannie and Freddie need to be wound down to affect reform.

Why doesn’t the MBA, NAHB and National Association of Realtors just come out and say what they really mean, which is this: Leave Fannie and Freddie alone, return them to their shareholders and they’ll never buy another ALT A or subprime mortgage again.

The nation’s banks and thrifts used a combined $406.1 billion in advances as of Dec. 31, 2013, up 26.7 percent from the third quarter and a 21.6 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.

Ocwen's stock has been floundering of late, but its payroll is headed north on a rocket.

Johnson-Crapo is wide open on what entities could issue the new MBS and even allows single firms to be loan originators, aggregators, issuers and bond guarantors.

The two have petitioned Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to designate Fannie and Freddie as SIFIs. Being an SIFI means the two would be subject to higher capital standards and greater scrutiny – as though the two aren’t under enough scrutiny as it is.

A group called The 60 Plus Association has released TV and radio ads in seven states targeting Senate Banking Committee Members who are sponsoring GSE reform legislation. The group claims the bills “allow the government to take over the mortgage industry in an action 'disturbingly similar' to Obamacare.”

As for the new GSE bill from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, the research firm notes that the legislation will not even be considered in the Republican controlled House.