Fannie Mae

With policymakers focused on ending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s conservatorship, their regulator is reorganizing key units and adding staff to position itself for the long term.

Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will scrap an unpopular standard for so-called qualified mortgages, the big question is what will take its place.

The regulator said the investment bank and financial services company will help in the process of strengthening Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s capital standing for their eventual exit from conservatorship.

FICO plans to release a new suite of scores that could reduce defaults on newly originated mortgages by 17%, but home lenders may not use it unless the government-sponsored enterprises do.

Trade associations representing mortgage lenders and securities market participants are asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency to rethink a plan to restrict pooling options for loans sold into uniform mortgage-backed securities.

The agency is sending a strong message that it won't rush to end an exemption for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while also signaling longer-term changes that will affect all lenders.

Director Kathy Kraninger has told lawmakers that the agency will delay the expiration of the so-called QM patch, now set for January 2021.

A former Fannie Mae employee is facing more than six years in federal prison for participating in a scam involving discount sales of properties owned by the government-sponsored enterprise.

Fannie Mae is sponsoring a $1.03B CRT transaction, while Caliber Homes Loans, New Residential and Onslow Bay fill the non-QM pipeline

The U.S. Supreme Court may soon decide if it will intervene in a high-stakes fight over the government-sponsored enterprise net worth sweep.