GSEs

The federal government has opened a criminal investigation into whether traders manipulated prices in the $550 billion market for corporate bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to people familiar with the matter.

Fannie Mae is warning mortgage lenders and servicers about possible fraud schemes in Los Angeles County involving "34 apparently fictitious employers being used on loan applications."

To make its technology more relevant to the mortgage industry, Fannie Mae is taking a new approach to developing tools that engages lenders earlier in the process and makes lending more efficient.

Freddie Mac's economists took a more bullish outlook than others on the 2018 mortgage market, raising its forecast by $30 billion citing higher-than-projected refinance activity.

A group of low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers tracked in a Fannie Mae study did not properly prepare to get a mortgage, which created a prolonged and complicated purchase process.

From the latest economic news to the latest developments in digital mortgages, here's a look at six things we learned at the MBA Secondary Conference 2018.

Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee and Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia are acknowledging the legislative efforts to end government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are dead, at least for now.

Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in a race to offer services and technology that help mortgage bankers raise cash from mortgage servicing rights.

Test your knowledge of the secondary mortgage market with this quiz of key industry abbreviations.

For nearly a decade, the FHFA has restricted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from trying to influence the raging debate over whether they should live or die.

Fannie Mae reduced its mortgage origination volume forecast for 2018 and 2019 as rising interest rates are affecting refinancings now, and will curtail purchase activity going forward.

Commercial and multifamily loan originations may not be up by much from a year ago, but borrowing and lending behaviors were drastically different in the first quarter.

John Krenitsky, who previously managed compliance for Discover Financial Services and various banks, is joining Freddie Mac as senior vice president and chief compliance officer on June 1.

Mortgage credit availability was unchanged in April, as originators tightened their government lending programs but made more jumbo offerings available.

In a bid to cut time and costs from the mortgage process, Fannie Mae is testing whether appraisers can accurately determine a home's value without actually visiting the property.

Freddie Mac has quietly started extending credit to nonbanks that issue mortgages, a move it says will help the companies maintain access to a crucial stockpile of cash if their home loans go sour.

Demands for loan quality aren't just coming from regulators and the government-sponsored enterprises. Secondary market partners and investors don't want to be left holding the bag if loans that lenders create have quality issues.

Fannie Mae's first-quarter profits were enough for it to rebuild its minimum capital buffer and pay the Treasury Department dividend after being forced to take a draw during the previous fiscal period.

In its latest effort to reach first time home buyers, Freddie Mac is launching a new 3% down payment program that casts aside a number of restrictions in its existing low down payment offerings.

If Freddie Mac's credit-risk transfer activities continue to grow, mortgage lenders could eventually see a reduction in the guarantee fees they pay to the government-sponsored enterprise, according to CEO Donald Layton.