Organization Root Tag

The Federal Housing Finance Agency authorized the government-sponsored enterprises to lend additional support to the mortgage-backed securities market and temporarily allow some flexibility in lending requirements to address coronavirus-related concerns.

While the mortgage market began the year healthy, lenders and borrowers need to prepare for the impacts of the coming coronavirus recession.

The Federal Reserve committed Monday to conducting more asset purchases of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities and announced $300 billion in new financing for credit facilities.

Accommodations for borrowers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as payment delays and fee waivers, are "positive and proactive actions that can manage or mitigate adverse impacts," the regulators said.

Mark Calabria said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are currently equipped to handle elevated delinquencies, but they might need congressional or Federal Reserve help if fallout from the coronavirus persists.

In signing off on deposit insurance for the payments giant and student loan servicer, the FDIC sanctioned the first new industrial loan companies in over a decade.

FHFA Director Mark Calabria said the health crisis will complicate the release of a proposal establishing new capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The temporary foreclosure moratorium on loans backed by HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comes after lawmakers and housing advocates had pushed for steps to avoid consumers getting booted from their homes.

The pandemic has upended staffing plans, sparked concerns about servicers’ capacity to handle the expected crush of missed payments, and even raised questions about their ability to stay afloat.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren criticized Director Kathy Kraninger for not issuing any public enforcement actions against auto lenders during her tenure.

The central bank said it was establishing the Commercial Paper Funding Facility to "support the flow of credit to households and businesses."

Add continued growth in commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding to the list of things that the economic fallout from the coronavirus might affect.

Lenders are rallying around a bill from Sen. Rubio that would give them access to another $50 billion under the 7(a) program. It could face obstacles in the House, where a bill favors direct lending by the Small Business Administration.

The actions include cutting the federal funds rate to between 0% and 0.25% and other steps to ease economic stress from the spread of the coronavirus.

Increased refinancing volume led Fannie Mae to raise its 2020 estimate by $300 billion and 2021 projection by $280 billion.

GreatAmerica Financial in Iowa is looking to form a bank so it can offer more products to small and midsize companies.

Terry Wakefield, a technology consultant who helped launch Fannie Mae's mortgage-backed securities business and form Prudential Home Mortgage, has died. He was 70.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac coming out of conservatorship and transitioning into public utilities would be the ideal for small mortgage lenders, according to trade-organization representative Robert Zimmer.

Kathy Kraninger was grilled about whether her agency and others were doing enough to cushion consumers from the economic blow of the coronavirus crisis.

Sen. Mark Warner led a group of Democratic senators in calling on bank, credit union and GSE regulators to give detailed instructions on helping consumer and commercial borrowers hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak.