Obama Administration officials such as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew have warned in the last month that such a “recap and release” program for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would put the GSEs at risk of another bailout; however, the GSEs’ Q3 earnings reports showed a $475 million net loss for Freddie Mac and a decline of more than 50 percent in Fannie Mae’s quarterly net income (from $4.6 billion in Q2 down to $2 billion in Q3), prompting their boss, FHFA Director Mel Watt, to declare that they may need a bailout anyway.
Read More »Democratic Lawmakers Warn of Risks Posed by Repeal of Dodd-Frank Provision
The investigation conducted by the two lawmakers found that repealing Section 716 of Dodd-Frank allows banks to keep nearly $10 trillion in swaps trades on the books that would be “pushed out” to entities that are not insured with taxpayer funds, if not for the Dodd-Frank rollback. Section 716 was intended to prevent taxpayer bailouts of federally-insured banks with risky swap holdings.
Read More »Investors Must Consider Prices, Job Market, and Yield When Seeking SFR Properties
The data, which examined 55 of the largest metro areas across the country to determine the best markets for single-family home investors looking at median price, average gross rental yields, year-over-year job growth, and home affordability, showed that the top investment market is Charlotte, North Carolina due to its strong job growth.
Read More »Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Continue Aggressive Campaign to Sell Non-Performing Loans
Fannie Mae announced the winners in its third NPL sale on Tuesday, and on Monday Freddie Mac announced its eighth NPL transaction of 2015. Both transactions total approximately $1.2 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB).
Read More »CFPB Plays Defense Against PHH Corp.’s Appeal of $109 Million Penalty
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is defending itself against a $109 million penalty the Bureau handed down to PHH Corp. for allegedly accepting kickbacks from mortgage insurers.
Read More »GSEs Announce Lowest Ever Interest Rate on Standard Mortgage Modifications
According to similar releases from the GSEs, starting on November 13, 2015, Fannie Mae will lower its standard modification interest rate from 4 percent to 3.875 percent. Meanwhile, Freddie Mac will lower its standard modification interest rate by the same amount beginning on November 5, 2015.
Read More »Economic Data Will Ultimately Determine When the Fed Will Raise Rates
On the side of the argument for exercising patience, Williams said there are two main concerns: One, the constraint of the “zero lower bound,” which is to say rates can’t go any lower than zero and there will not be room to lower the rates if there is another economic downturn or if inflation drops further; and two, the inflation has been “stubbornly” below the Fed’s target rate of 2 percent for almost three and a half years.
Read More »Do Banks Wait Until Economic Downturns to Build Up Loan-Loss Reserves?
The authors noted that the typical scenario for economic downturns is for the number of problem loans to rise, along with loan-loss provisions. During the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, commonly known as the Great Recession, net charge-offs totaled more than $50 billion, a historically high level. Meanwhile, the provisions for loan and lease losses more than tripled from 2007 to 2008 at the onset of the recession—from less than $20 billion to more than $70 billion in just a year.
Read More »Citigroup Plans to Issue $421 Million Securitization Bundle
This bundle of loans, CMLT 2015-PS1, is the third securitization issued by Citigroup in 2015 and comes with an unpaid principal balance (UPB) of $421 million.
Read More »OCC to Test Banks for TRID Compliance
The OCC provided guidance on what to expect in their forthcoming TRID compliance exams directed to “chief executive officers and compliance officers of national banks and federal savings associations, federal branches and agencies, department and division heads, all examining personnel, and other interested parties.”
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