Government

The congressionally appointed committee charged with overseeing the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) headed to Atlanta to hold a hearing on problems in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector. Specifically panel members are hoping to get a better grasp on how CRE woes will affect the banking system and the role of TARP in addressing that impact, hoping to stave off another real estate-induced financial meltdown.

Fannie Mae says it will cover the closing costs on purchases of its REO homes - an incentive the GSE hopes will help it pare down a bloated supply of repossessed properties. From now until May 1, people purchasing a home through HomePath, Fannie Mae's REO disposition operation, will receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price, which can be applied toward closing costs or used to purchase appliances for their new home. At the end of September, Fannie Mae had 72,275 REO properties on its books, marking a 7 percent increase year-over-year.

Freddie Mac and 13 national and local nonprofit organizations have launched a pilot effort aimed at convincing discouraged delinquent borrowers to pursue mortgage workouts to save their homes from foreclosure. Freddie Mac has set up new Borrower Help Centers in Chicago, Phoenix, San Bernardino, and Washington, D.C. to provide mortgage counseling to delinquent Freddie Mac borrowers. The company is also launching a separate national phone campaign to reach distressed borrowers across the nation.

The Senate has chosen the nation's foremost central banker for the next four years, and he's a familiar face already. In a 70 to 30 vote Thursday afternoon, senators confirmed Ben S. Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. Many lawmakers have criticized the Fed chief for failing to nip the financial crisis in the bud, but fellow economists have credited him with pulling the U.S. economy back from the brink of collapse and preventing a sequel of the Great Depression.

Treasury said Thursday that it will begin requiring servicers to obtain all required documentation upfront, prior to evaluating a borrower for a trial plan under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) - an about-face from the current process where trial mods can be initiated based on stated, not verified, income. Treasury officials also fielded speculation that they might make principal reduction a more central component of the program. They currently have no plans to address negative equity under HAMP, but called it a ""serious policy concern.""

The Federal Reserve offered its most upbeat economic outlook in nearly a year at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting Wednesday, but again voted to maintain the benchmark federal funds rate at near-zero. Policymakers also made it clear that they are sticking to their plan of pulling back from the secondary market, with the program to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) coming to a close on March 31, as scheduled.

The Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) share of the mortgage financing market has increased nearly 1,000 percent since 2006, and with that exponential leap in the size of its portfolio, defaults and foreclosures have also begun to mount. Real estate experts at the online foreclosure marketplace USHUD.com predict FHA will hold title to 49 percent of residential foreclosure properties by 2018.

Federal banking regulators issued a final risk-based capital rule last week outlining how lenders are to account for assets, including mortgages that have been repackaged and sold to investors. Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) had previously been excluded from banks' balance sheets, but new industry-wide accounting standards force lenders to move these securitized assets back onto their books.

Bank of America announced Tuesday that it is the first mortgage servicer to sign an agreement formally committing to participate in the second-lien component of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Bank of America, which services 3 million second liens, says it will modify eligible home equity loans and lines of credit regardless of whether the first lien is serviced by Bank of America or another participating servicer.

The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System & Registry (NMLS), a mortgage licensing system operated by state financial regulators recently announced the launch of NMLS Consumer Access This fully researchable Web site allows the general public to view information concerning state-licensed mortgage companies, branches, and individuals currently licensed through the NMLS.