Government

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.

According to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, released Monday, 14.3 percent of bank respondents reported tightening their credit standards on prime residential mortgages “somewhat,” just slightly higher than the 12.9 percent that eased standards somewhat. The vast majority—72.9 percent—said standards “remained basically unchanged.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it has reached an agreement with the owners/managers of a Denver-area apartment complex, resolving complaints of discrimination. The apartment complex, The Orchards at Cherry Creek Apartments in Centennial, was charged with discrimination after refusing to allow children to play outside.

Fannie Mae's book of business declined for the first three months of this year, ending the first quarter with a monthly compound annualized rate of -1.8 percent. Over the first quarter, the GSE's book of business declined at a compound annualized rate of 2.2 percent.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that a $7.5 million settlement has been reached with Bank of America’s former CFO, Joe Price, regarding the bank's actions as it sought to merge with Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2008.

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.

In its quarterly report to congress Wednesday, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) outlined its role as law enforcer for TARP recipients and as adviser to the Treasury. SIGTARP highlighted and reiterated a few of its previous recommendations, including increasing incentives for homeowners in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

According to numbers put out by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Wednesday, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 0.1 percent in Q1, a plunge from the final 2.6 percent growth rate reported for Q4 2013. The sudden slowdown reflects in part the toll this year’s winter season took on economic expansion, though not all changes were weather-related.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued their Federal Open Market Committee statement, commenting that growth in economic activity has picked up recently despite a sluggish first quarter, due in part to adverse weather conditions. The Fed noted that recovery in the housing sector remained slow.