Government

As state attorneys general and major U.S. banks continue to work toward a settlement, questions abound regarding the amount of legal liability the mortgage servicers should and will maintain after an agreement is signed. Media reports have surfaced claiming a draft proposal put forth by the attorneys general includes language that could prevent officials from bringing securitization claims in the future, but the negotiating committee for the states is adamant that servicers will not be released from all civil liability or any criminal liability.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to pursue legal action against firms that sold residential mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could potentially strain relationships between the GSEs and the companies named as defendants, many of whom still sell mortgages to Fannie and Freddie and service home loans held by the two mortgage financiers. Some of the financial firms have been forthcoming with pledges to aggressively defend themselves against the allegations and are disappointed by the fact that FHFA has taken to the courts.

State and federal regulators on Friday closed the doors on two Georgia lenders, bringing the number of names on the FDIC's failed-bank list to 70 for the 2011 calendar year. The state of Georgia's banking industry has been especially hard-hit by the real estate and economic downturns. It's been home to the most bank failures since the crisis set in, with 19 institutional closings over the last eight-and-a-half months. Patriot Bank of Georgia in Cumming and CreekSide Bank in Woodstock are the latest casualties.

Fannie Mae is bolstering the incentive fees paid to servicers modifying the GSE's loans through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The new incentives apply to all HAMP mods with a trial period effective date of October 1, 2011 or later. In a servicing policy update, Fannie Mae explained that it will begin paying servicers based on a tiered incentive structure that coincides with the number of days the mortgage loan has been delinquent when the trial plan starts.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is suing 17 financial institutions in an attempt to recover losses incurred by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from mortgage bonds purchased between 2005 and 2007. Based on initial reports, FHFA is looking to recoup as much as $45 billion. At least one financial analyst believes the matter will end in a settlement significantly south of that amount. Others say a more long-lasting impact may come in the form of higher mortgage costs for consumers.

HUD has announced that it will distribute more than $10 million to housing counselors throughout the country. Grants have been awarded to 139 local counseling agencies and 23 housing counseling intermediaries. The funding is specifically earmarked to help distressed homeowners with mortgage modifications and other loss mitigation options, and to combat scams perpetrated by fraudulent foreclosure rescue companies. HUD says the grant money is unspent funding from its 2010 appropriation.

The national unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent as the U.S. economy added no new jobs during the month of August, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Analysts were expecting some semblance of job growth in the highly anticipated report, although forecasts were all over the map, from as high as 93,000 new jobs to as low as 16,000 and everywhere in between - representative of just how disjointed the economy itself has become in recent months.

Treasury has released the results of its second-quarter assessment of servicers participating in the Making Home Affordable program. Officials say they will continue to withhold program incentives owed to Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The two were determined to need ""substantial improvement"" in key areas including borrower evaluations. BofA and JPMorgan received the same score last quarter, as did Wells Fargo, but Wells has now elevated its grade to needing ""moderate improvement.""

Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota continues to express concerns that the new rules regarding ratings agencies are not addressing fundamental issues with ratings procedures. Franken, along with other congressmen and policymakers, believes ratings agencies inflated assessments of mortgage-backed securities and that these inflated ratings ultimately led to the financial crisis. During a conference call hosted by Americans for Financial Reform, Franken and others spoke out on the inherent conflict of interest they see within ratings procedures.

Nevada is asking to be cut loose from a multi-state settlement agreement reached in October 2008 with Bank of America following its acquisition of Countrywide just four months earlier. BofA struck a deal with Nevada and several other states agreeing to provide up to $8.4 billion in interest and principal reductions for Countrywide borrowers. Nevada's attorney general claims the bank has breached that agreement and is asking to be released from it. BofA says it will defend itself against the allegations.