Secondary Market

Why is the FHFA extending its principal reduction program to only 33,000 borrowers when there are three million underwater borrowers nationwide?

What is the outlook for the GSE shareholders' appeal of a lawsuit against the government over the sweep of GSE profits into Treasury that was previously dismissed in the D.C. District Court? Hamish Hume, partner with Boies, Schiller & Flexner, discusses all points of the case.

Housing advocates have been calling for government agencies to sell more non-performing mortgage loans to non-profits. With the announcement of Fannie Mae's latest non-performing loan (NPL) auction, they are partially getting their wish.

Per the direction of their conservator and regulator, the FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were instructed not to conduct loan-level reviews for technical compliance with TRID when conducting their credit-risk transfer transactions.

On March 22, Mel Watt said the FHFA would make a decision within 30 days on whether or not to offer principal reduction on mortgage loans. Some housing advocates don't want to wait that long, however.

Many, including FHFA Director Mel Watt, have expressed concern over Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's lack of a capital buffer. But at this point, how likely is it that they will be recapitalized and released from the conservatorships?

After a slight uptick in January, the number of delinquent loans backed by Freddie Mac resumed its downward spiral.

The aggregate unpaid principal balance of Fannie Mae's gross mortgage portfolio fell below its 2016 cap.

Part of the plan includes the GSEs' conservator, FHFA, amending the preferred stock purchase agreements and suspending payment of cash dividends on Treasury's senior preferred stock.

The GSEs began their risk-sharing initiatives in 2013 as a way to transfer risk from taxpayers to private investors while the Enterprises remain in conservatorship of the FHFA. Since then, the GSEs have transferred a substantial portion of the credit risk for mortgages totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in unpaid principal balance (UPB).