FHFA

During her opening remarks before lawmakers Tuesday, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency reiterated that borrowers with strong credit profiles are not being penalized to benefit those with poorer scores.

Only an act of Congress can allow the lenders to become members, two bank presidents emphasized.

Some stakeholders have worried about the estimated date for the transition to a new way of calculating credit worthiness, but an official assured attendees at an industry conference that the agency won't act prematurely.

The withdrawn loan level pricing adjustment matrix changes were mostly about election-year politics and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's plan for credit scoring changes is even more impractical, the Chairman of Whalen Global Advisors writes.

Changes to loan-level price adjustments are perfectly consistent with the FHA's mission and with the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The legislative proposals backed by Republican members of congress seek to undo the latest cross-subsidized adjustments to loan fees that two large government-related mortgage investors charge.

Her statement calls out "a fundamental misunderstanding about the fees" following concerns expressed by two congressmen and others about their impacts.

The agency added increased emphasis on loss mitigation and special purpose credit programs following heightened calls for more participation in the latter from a minority trade group.

The inspector general linked the problems to staff turnover and recommended improvements to policies around documentation that the housing agency agreed to make.

The agency, which oversees government-related investors that set underwriting parameters in the U.S. mortgage market, estimates the process will begin in 2024.