News

The nation's two largest mortgage financiers have been stuck in the red for some time, and they regularly require cash draws from the Treasury to stay afloat. The GSEs' recent announcements to buy back some $200 billion in seriously delinquent loans from mortgage-backed securities holders over the next few months mean they'll have to come up with some extra cash fast. Analysts at Barclays Capital estimate that Freddie Mac will need to sell off $10 billion to $20 billion of its debt to fund the purchases, while Fannie Mae will need to raise about $60 billion.

The bankrupt commercial property developer and shopping mall manager General Growth Properties (GGP) has become a hot commodity, with firms lining up to get a piece of the Chicago-based company. On Tuesday, the nation's largest mall-operator, Simon Property Group, Inc. made public a $10 billion unsolicited bid to acquire the rival GGP - a deal that would have pulled the company out of bankruptcy. GGP quickly rejected the offer, and since, speculation has run rampant about other investment firms that may soon come knocking.

Following multiple revisions and dismal closings, the Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program may experience revitalization. Irvine, California-based Banker's Portfolio, LLC, an innovative solution provider for the resolution of distressed assets, has secured a forward commitment for the purchase of the H4H securities and is rolling out the H4H product to existing mortgage investors, loan servicers, and asset managers as an alternative to foreclosure.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has sent a proposed rule to the Federal Register establishing new housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) gave FHFA authority to establish annual performance goals for the two mortgage giants. These goals set the minimum percentage of mortgage acquisitions by the GSEs for certain borrower income groups.

In an effort to make appraisal review more efficient, FNC, Inc., a mortgage technology company headquartered in Oxford, Mississippi, recently released the GARR Viewer, which works hand-in-hand with one of its flagship products--the Generally Accepted Appraisal Rules (GAAR) software.

The new Appraiser Independence requirements for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans officially took effect February 15, 2010. Originally planned for a January 1 implementation, the enactment was delayed to provide the FHA and lenders with additional time to adjust systems to accommodate the changes. The new rules are similar the the GSEs' HVCC, and market participants are expecting the same type of pushback to surface.

Mortgage servicers have significantly stepped up efforts to convert trial modifications to permanent status under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), nearly doubling the number in just one month's time. The U.S. Treasury released its January report card Wednesday and it showed that 116,297 homeowners are now in permanent modifications. Another 76,482 have been extended offers for a permanent restructuring, needing only the borrower's signature to complete the conversion. The Treasury said the data ""marked record progress.""

On Tuesday, Doug Criscitello was sworn in as the CFO at HUD. To his new position, Criscitello brings specialized experience in forecasting government finances, modeling financial risk of credit programs, performing budgetary and legislative analysis, and helping public sector agencies implement state-of-the-art financial technologies and practices.

Stewart Title Co. and Stewart Title Guaranty Co. announced Wednesday the launch of new RESPA-compliant online rate calculators for lenders. The calculators are rolling out nationwide through Stewart Title offices and through Stewart Title Guaranty's network of agencies to help lenders ensure title fee estimates are accurate when providing homebuyers with rates under new disclosure rules.

According to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications decreased during the week ending February 12, 2010, marking the second consecutive week of declines.