The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Wednesday slammed plans by some local governments to use eminent domain to refinance underwater mortgages.

The bank plans to complete its first Ginnie Mae HECM MBS deal next month.

Refinancing and purchasing activity were both lower in the week ending Aug. 3.

Fannie and Freddie refis with LTV ratios above 125% surged in June as lenders were able to securitize and sell these severely underwater loans for the first time.

SunTrust Bank, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the U.S., is looking for a new executive to manage retail production after the departure of Martha Simmons Scott.

Fannie reported comprehensive net income of $5.4 billion in 2Q, a 74% improvement from 1Q and won’t require financial assistance from the U.S. Treasury.

The rating agency said that a number of positive factors should offset the setback including the record high 2011 harvest, among other things.

Roughly 60% of the banks listed capacity constraints and cross-servicer refinance issues as hurdles to refinancing more loans under the program.

The CoreLogic house price index rose for the fourth consecutive month in June and the vendor’s chief executive expects prices will remain positive during the second-half of this year.

Dealogic said that U.S. marketed RMBS volume is currently at $186.2 billion for 2012 year-to-date, which down 34% compared with 2011 year-to-date at $282.6 billion and the lowest year-to-date volume since $167 billion issued in 2009

With the private-label RMBS market currently stalled and the number of foreclosed homes and distressed borrowers at or close to record highs, Fitch Ratings said that investor, lender, and government agency interest is “clearly strong” for converting single-family real-estate-owned (REO) inventory into rental properties and securitizing the cash flow streams.

When acting GSE regulator Ed DeMarco last week slammed the door on the idea of Fannie Mae and Freddie agreeing to principal writedowns on underwater mortgages he was predictably cheered by the GOP and lambasted by Democrats who once again called for his head.