GSEs

Student housing and assisted/independent living centers were small portions of Freddie's multifamily securitizations prior to COVID, but Kroll noticed they've been missing in most rated deals since spring.

The net share of mortgages in Ginnie Mae securitizations with suspended payments appears to be stabilizing, but the number of new requests creates doubt about whether it will subside.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council said the mortgage giants may need a bigger capital cushion than their regulator has proposed, but stopped short of designating them as “systemically important financial institutions.”

The percentage of borrowers who have asked to temporarily suspend payments due to coronavirus-related hardships is down overall, but in the Ginnie Mae market, they're still inching up.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been slammed for planning an additional refinancing charge to cover COVID-related losses, but the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency defended the policy in House testimony.

Electronic notes did come in handy this year given the mortgage industry's need to operate remotely, but they also increase the government-sponsored enterprises' responsibility for monitoring the risk of multiple counterparties.

The government-sponsored enterprise’s seller/servicer guide is now integrated into the online portal. Freddie also improved the readability of loan-level reporting it provides, and has further changes in the works.

The guidelines are somewhat similar to those the Federal Housing Finance Agency established for the government-sponsored enterprise market in response to the high number of loans impacted by coronavirus-related hardships.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's proposal could undermine the companies’ mission to support the housing market and penalize consumers in underserved communities, industry and consumer groups say.

Following its deadline for written comments on the topic last month, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is scheduling events that will focus on two key themes emerging in responses.