GSEs

A mortgage fraud scheme involving fake employment records, initially thought to be contained to Southern California, is occurring statewide, Fannie Mae said in a new fraud alert.

The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled an FHFA oversight hearing for September in the wake of waste, fraud and abuse allegations.

The biggest impact may be to focus the administration’s efforts on selecting a nominee to succeed Director Mel Watt, whose term ends in January.

Mortgage credit accessibility kept climbing in July, mostly thanks to an expansion of jumbo loan products offered, pushing that index to its historical high point, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fannie Mae’s treatment of a reperforming loan package helped drive up earnings by almost 41% to $4.5 billion, delivering a stronger dividend to Treasury ahead of a leadership change.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in conservatorship nearly a decade after the financial crisis, and there’s still no end in sight.

Freddie Mac produced modest second-quarter results, reflecting a stabilizing business that CEO Donald Layton compared to a utility company.

The agency said multiple stakeholders had requested more time to evaluate the proposal.

Politico reported Friday that the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is being accused by an employee of making inappropriate sexual advances.

Fannie Mae has issued securities supporting the transition away from the London interbank offered rate; something that could become more pressing for lenders if adjustable-rate mortgages were to become more prevalent.

Whoever succeeds current Director Mel Watt will have a front-and-center role in efforts to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Nonbank mortgage-backed securities servicers increase their exposure to agency loans as the housing market distances itself from last decade's crash, according to Fitch Ratings.

Michael Bright co-wrote a paper in 2016 that envisioned making the agency a backstop for the housing finance system, but appeared to distance himself from the proposal at his confirmation hearing.

The announcement comes as Fannie Mae promoted David Benson to serve as president of the government-sponsored enterprise.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is suspending its ongoing review of new credit scoring models and will instead move forward with creating a regulatory framework for providers of alternative credit scores to apply and be evaluated for use by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge for low down payment mortgages disproportionately reflect their risk exposure and make homeownership more difficult for underserved borrowers.

A federal appeals court in Texas agreed with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders that the FHFA, led by a single director, violates the separation of powers.

The collateral includes both QM and non-QM loans; however, certain loans are designated as QM even though the borrower’s DTI may be above 43%, due to a temporary exemption for GSE-eligible loans.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need to tap into U.S. Treasury funds when they adopt CECL, a new accounting rule that makes companies set aside money upfront for expected loan losses.

Greater consumer access to credit could help mortgage bankers replenish originations eroded by higher rates, but they are reluctant to depart from the status quo to provide it.