Ginnie Mae

The mortgage agency has hired Eric Blankenstein, who sparked controversy while at the consumer bureau over past revelations of racially charged writings.

Prepayments tied to repeated VA loan refinancing activity have had an adverse effect on Ginnie’s mortgage securities that persists despite countermeasures. The government bond issuer is making new plans to address the impact.

The Government Accountability Office called on Ginnie Mae to undertake four reforms to its operations, citing concerns regarding the ongoing shift in size and capitalization of mortgage-backed securities issuers.

Alarmed about continued high nonmarket-based prepayment rates, Ginnie Mae is requesting input from lenders on how to make the mortgage-backed securities it guarantees fairer to investors without hurting borrowers.

Ginnie Mae could limit how much servicing income mortgage lenders can sell off through a transaction if they don't establish a minimum 25-basis-point spread at the portfolio level by next year.

The Senate Banking Committee chairman released an outline for overhauling the U.S. housing finance system more than 10 years after the government put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship.

Ginnie Mae has restricted loanDepot's ability to securitize Veterans Affairs mortgages because of apparent churning of recent originations.

At Ginnie Mae, Michael Bright worked closely with Congress to fight churn in VA mortgages; he plans to bring the same collaborative approach to the Structured Finance Industry Group.

Michael Bright is resigning as acting president of Ginnie Mae to run the Structured Finance Industry Group, a trade association that's been without a CEO since Richard Johns resigned in July amid a reported split with the group's board.

Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright will leave his post on Jan. 16 and will no longer seek confirmation to be the permanent head of the mortgage secondary market agency.