Right after I graduated college I read an existential novel called 'The Woman in the Dunes' by Japanese writer Kobo Abe. The story is a bit fuzzy in my mind now, but it centers around an entomologist name Niki who gets stuck in a sandy quarry with a widow who is employed by local villagers to dig sand for sale. Niki tries to escape the sand quarry but can't and faces an eternity of digging sand. Eventually, he does escape but then gets caught in quicksand and the villagers toss him back into the quarry to dig even more sand. The reason I bring this story up is Fannie Mae – One day it will post an operating profit (but when?) but is so indebted to the U.S. Treasury via its preferred stock investments that it can never truly escape its fate: an endless cycle of digging sand. With its latest loss, Fannie asked Treasury for a draw of $4.6 billion (to maintain a positive net worth). With this latest request, Fannie will owe the Treasury $117 billion, which translates into annualized dividend payments to the government of $11.7 billion. Sand, sand, sand. Everywhere. (Thanks to Wikipedia for brushing me up on the novel.)
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Elevated delinquency levels have not affected expected losses, however, due to home price appreciation, Fitch Ratings said.
1h ago -
Retail lenders, including Beeline, Tomo Mortgage and Rocket Mortgage, settled with the department over infractions like submitting a false certification to not having the proper liquidity to be in the program.
2h ago -
A pair of bills, one with bipartisan support, look to address the issues around heirs' property so these families can have clear title on their homes.
2h ago -
The agreement, in which the real estate giant admits no wrongdoing, will cover around 70,000 agents.
4h ago -
Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.
April 25 -
Members of the LGBTQ community were most likely to have experienced housing bias, according to a Zillow survey, which also found many people don't recognize how fair lending laws could help.
April 25