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FHFA's Inspector General Needs a MSR Evaluator, but Why?

The Inspector General's (IG) office of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is taking bids on a contract to evaluate mortgage servicing rights, according to a 'request  for proposal' (RFP) being circulated around the industry.

At least one servicing brokerage firm said it has viewed the RFP and plans to apply while another told ASR sister publication National Mortgage News that it will pass at this time. Both firms declined to be identified.

The RFP is sized at about $7 million and is described as a “100% small business set aside.”

However, it is unclear why the IG's office is seeking evaluations on MSRs.

This past fall NMN broke a story that Fannie Mae actually purchased $74 billion of MSRs from Bank of America, one of its largest seller/servicers.

In the past Fannie has been known to force-place troubled MSR portfolios to other servicers, but servicing advisors say the $74 billion acquisition marks the largest purchase ever by a GSE.

To date Fannie has declined to discuss the issue at all, but confirmed the acquisition in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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