Housing finance reform

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria said a virus-induced financial crisis might give rise to more delinquencies and foreclosures than the 2007 subprime mortgage meltdown.

FHFA Director Mark Calabria said the health crisis will complicate the release of a proposal establishing new capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac coming out of conservatorship and transitioning into public utilities would be the ideal for small mortgage lenders, according to trade-organization representative Robert Zimmer.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development asked mortgage servicers and other stakeholders to respond quickly to a proposed set of foreclosure-sale policy improvements so it can finalize them soon.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to retain “limited and tailored government support” after they are released from U.S. control, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a letter to lawmakers.

The unsuccessful scheme has become the focus of a legal battle involving two former Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco employees against that government-sponsored enterprise, which fired them in 2018.

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.

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.

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.

Despite changes by the Federal Housing Administration, bankers remain reluctant to join the program for fear of legal liability. But that could change if it revamps servicing processes, experts say.

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.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria discussed the possibility of having Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operate under a consent order to allow the government-sponsored enterprises to be able to raise capital.

Polls showing an upswing for President Trump's re-election chances against top potential Democratic candidates favor housing finance and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Height Capital Markets.

A risk-based capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to top the agenda in 2020 as the companies' regulator executes plans for their release into the private sector.

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are pressuring Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuch to provide more details on administration plans to end the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The House Financial Services chair is sponsoring a bill with one of the Democratic presidential contenders aimed at alleviating the public housing capital backlog.

Changing or eliminating the exemption to the qualified mortgage rule could harm consumers and put smaller lenders at a disadvantage to the big banks.

There's been chatter that investors are shying away from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities because Congress may not enact housing finance reform. Be skeptical of those claims.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s exemption from the Qualified Mortgage rule is on borrowed time, but a House bill would allow lenders to use the mortgage giants’ guidelines for documenting borrower income.