Tag Archives: FHFA

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its strategic plan for the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In its report, the FHFA focused on three tenets going forward for the GSEs: maintain foreclosure prevention activities, reduce taxpayer risk, and build a new, single-family securitization infrastructure.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its Quarterly Performance Report of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, as well as the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Overall, the performance report was good, noting increases in Fannie and Freddie earnings, as well as substantial advances by the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

In a recent speech at the 2014 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) Directors Conference, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Mel Watt addressed issues related to the 12 FHLBanks. Watt spoke on a variety of topics, including franchise value, FHLBanks' core mission activities, and membership composition.

Releasing their earnings reports simultaneously, Fannie and Freddie reported first-quarter profits of $5.3 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively—a major step back from incomes reported last year but still a fair amount for what was a slow period for the housing market. Both enterprises have reported profits each quarter for more than two years straight.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) performed an audit on the financial conditions of mortgage insurers used for loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to assess their exposure to risk. The FHFA, as the regulator for Fannie and Freddie, provides oversight of the GSEs and contracted CohnReznick LLP to perform the audit.

A top official for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is looking at a felony charge for allegedly threatening the agency's former acting director, Edward DeMarco. Richard Hornsby, FHFA's COO, was charged in late April with "[threatening] to kidnap or injure a person," resulting in an order for him to stay away from DeMarco.

The National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) recently issued a critique of an audit performed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of the Inspector General (FHFAOIG). NAMFS doesn't believe that the report properly assessed the over 15 million inspections done each year in the United States.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), serving as the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced a settlement for $110 million with First Horizon National Corporation. The settlement resolves alleged violations of securities laws in connection with private-label mortgage-backed securities (PLS) purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2005-2007.

Worst-case scenario: In the event of repeat of the 2008 economic downturn, the federal government’s main mortgage buyers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need another $190 billion bailout to keep them solvent. So say the results of the inaugural Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Wednesday.

Black Knight Financial Services released its Home Price Index (HPI), noting that home prices in the U.S. rose .7 percent for the month of February to an average of $233,000. The slight increase for the month reflects an overall yearly increase of 7.6 percent, according to the financial company.