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There is no independent auditor overseeing the federal agency responsible for some $6 trillion in home mortgages, because the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel ruled that the agency's inspector general didn't have authority to operate, according to internal memos obtained by...
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What a difference 18 months can make. Need an example? Look no further than recent news from the GSEs that lenders are thumbing their noses at repurchase and reimbursement requests in record numbers. As reported in their quarterly filings, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are seeing an increase in the number...
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Not a week goes by that someone doesn't send me a script for a Hollywood movie based on mortgage banking . Usually it is either a) zany comedy starring Ben Stiller as a loan agent who doesn't know that the jumbo market has gone away, with Samuel L. Jackson as an irate borrower, b) an intense...
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Time seems to fly in the mortgage banking business. Here we are, less than a week until the national conference in San Diego. Heck, here we are approaching Halloween! And I know that I am getting old when I wake up with that “morning-after feeling” and I didn't do anything the night before...
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What’s not clear from yesterday's announcement is whether or not Fannie and Freddie are acting strategically or at the behest of Treasury or FHFA. Strategically this makes a lot of sense since the GSE’s have long supported a diverse market of loan sellers: credit unions, community banks...
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Programs are underway on so many fronts to get foreclosures under control that it can be difficult to sort them all out. Early last week the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency issued their second quarter summary of foreclosure avoidance activity among large loan...
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The Federal Reserve today reported on their weekly purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). In the five trading days between August 13 and August 19, the Federal Reserve purchased a gross total of $26.640 billion agency MBS. After subtracting sales (providing liquidity/the roll) the Fed's...
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After two weeks of modest increases, mortgage rates drifted down during the week ended August 6 according to results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey released on Thursday. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.22 percent for the week compared to 5.25 percent a week earlier...
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The White House today responded to recent questions raised, among other places, by an article in today's Washington Post, about the potential phasing-out, combination, or replacement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by saying that "the story out today is light years ahead of any decision making...
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The controversy over retention bonuses continues as the FHFA chief regulator defends the bonuses, with Sen. Charles Grassley, Senate Finance Committee ranking member (R-IA).
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Under the category of "Some People Never Learn," both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are reportedly planning on paying huge bonuses to key executives this year in order to retain their services. The Associated Press is reported that Fannie Mae will pay $611,000 to Michael Williams, chief operating...
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The U.S. Treasury announced Wednesday it will boost its funding commitments to government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . The Treasury said it will increase its stock purchases of Fannie and Freddie by up to $400 billion, or $200 billion each - double the original level. The increase...
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Outgoing Treasury Secretary Paulson has suggested that Congress should replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with one or two private-sector entities. Those entities would purchase and securitize mortgages with a credit guarantee backed by the federal government, and would not have investment portfolios...
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The best option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be to convert them into public, utility-like organizations that would not hold any investment portfolio, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington, Paulson said returning Fannie Mae and Freddie...
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The government announced Tuesday it will spend $600 billion to take on the obligations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae in order to reduce borrowing costs for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Agency debt has always carried an implicit government guarantee but took on an explicit...