Freddie Mac

Five MBS pools of predominantly non-QM mortgages have been launched into the market by originators and loan aggregators, according to ratings agency presale reports published since Monday.

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.

The biggest issuers of bonds tied to the benchmark tapped to replace U.S. dollar Libor are suddenly pulling back, a potential blow to efforts by regulators to wean the financial system off a much-maligned reference rate.

The government-sponsored enterprises’ plan to cease accepting loans pegged to the London interbank offered rate a year ahead of its scheduled expiration is expected to hasten action in securitized markets.

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.

Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will scrap an unpopular standard for so-called qualified mortgages, the big question is what will take its place.

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.

Fannie Mae is sponsoring a $1.03B CRT transaction, while Caliber Homes Loans, New Residential and Onslow Bay fill the non-QM pipeline

Getting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship has been an elusive goal. It will remain elusive, says DeMarco, in the absence of broader reform of housing finance, something that will require bipartisan support.

The FHFA’s attempt to move some of its balance sheet into the private sector could leave investors with greater liabilities than they were initially told.

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.

Mortgage rates ended the week little changed from the previous seven-day period and near historic lows for the year, according to Freddie Mac.

A dozen of the nation's largest underwriters were accused of colluding with traders to artificially set prices on the secondary market for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities.

If Fannie and Freddie are going to supply a government guarantee on mortgages, they might as well be part of the government.

Loan limits for most mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy will exceed $500,000 for the first time ever next year, and the maximum for most high-cost areas will be $765,000.

The former head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight explains why he thinks the mortgage industry is closer than ever to having a truly paperless process, and weighs in on GSE reform.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is scrapping a capital proposal it released last year and will seek comments on a new plan in 2020.

Lenders have bundled more than $18 billion worth of non-QM, private-label loans into bonds this year that they then sold to investors, a 44% increase from 2018 and the most for any year since the securities became common post-crisis.