GSEs

Lenders selling loans through Freddie Mac's system experienced access difficulties Monday afternoon, when the government-sponsored enterprise sent out an alert to lenders about the problem.

Growth in loans with higher debt-to-income ratios is reviving focus on a regulatory exemption for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other federal agencies that back mortgages.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency must set fees equal to the cost of capital that private banks hold against similar risk, not just the amount of capital that Fannie and Freddie think are right for themselves.

Fannie Mae servicers are facing pressure from the recent hurricanes, but so far are bearing up under the strain.

Mark Calabria, the chief economic adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, said the administration is focused for now on more pressing issues than GSE reform, including addressing housing damage from recent hurricanes.

Fannie Mae is allowing in some situations where mortgage payments are made by someone other than the borrower for the full monthly housing expense to be excluded from debt-to-income calculations.

A securities settlement, portfolio asset sales and greater interest among smaller lenders helped Freddie Mac compensate for potential losses from the catastrophic hurricane season.

Fannie Mae is testing a conforming loan product that makes use of a New Hampshire law that lets manufactured housing in resident-owned communities get treated like units in a co-operative building.

Fannie Mae is staging more pilot projects with lenders and vendors, including one that consolidates submissions of different types of loan data potentially eligible for immediate representation and warranty relief.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said the agency is poised to examine alternatives to how a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assess creditworthiness of home buyers, including seeking public comment on the issue later this fall.