Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

With the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) retooling of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), one change in particular may hold the answer to just how much of an impact the initiative will have -- FHFA's decision to waive representations and warranties on loans that are refinanced through the program. The debate has already begun about whether such a move will indeed persuade lenders to step up participation in the program. Some lenders do see it as an opportunity, but market analysts say the rep and warranty waiver may be less effective than expected.

The monthly home price index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has recorded its first decline since March. FHFA reported Tuesday that home prices in the U.S. fell 0.1 percent from July to August, and the previously reported 0.8 percent increase recorded for July was revised to reflect no change. Data released the very same day by Standard & Poor's showed a 0.2 percent increase in the Case-Shiller home price index for the same period. Economists say FHFA's index is ""a better barometer.""

It's official. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has unveiled a new, revamped government mortgage refinancing program. The initiative involves a series of rule changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to allow more underwater homeowners to reduce their mortgage debt by taking advantage of today's rock-bottom interest rates. Under the revised HARP guidelines, the 125 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ceiling has been removed, and risk-based fees have been adjusted.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to transition away from their current foreclosure attorney network programs, and move to a system where mortgage servicers will select law firms based on minimum qualifications and uniform criteria. Currently, each GSE designates eligible law firms for individual states, and servicers choose a firm from these lists to handle their foreclosure work. FHFA says the new approach is an extension of the Servicing Alignment Initiative and will lead to greater transparency.

Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee point to the GSEs and the Obama administration's housing programs as areas for Congress' deficit reduction super-committee to examine as it works toward cutting $1.5 trillion of the nation's debt. A letter drafted by Chairman Spencer Bachus and signed by 20 Republican committee members first calls for an increase in the GSEs' guarantee fees and then the elimination of such programs as HAMP and HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The administration is looking into ways to support greater private sector involvement in the secondary market for home mortgages. Officials are weighing a proposal that would allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sell off portions of their mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to private investors. These MBS carve-outs would not carry a federal guarantee but would pay a higher interest rate. A pilot program could be rolled out as early as next year to test private investors' willingness to share some of the risk carried by the GSEs.

Market watchers have their eyes peeled for word from Washington that officials will relax the rules of a government refinancing program to allow underwater homeowners with GSE-backed loans to take out new mortgages with lower interest rates. President Obama promised just over a month ago that a new and improved Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) would soon be unveiled, but lawmakers are growing impatient. A bipartisan group of senators has sent letters to the heads of four federal agencies calling for ""immediate"" action.

With an estimated 250,000 foreclosed homes on Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's books, the government is considering inventive ways to divulge excess inventory and return stability to the housing market. The administration sent out a request for information (RFI) in August asking how a government REO rental program might work. The industry has responded with enthusiasm, submitting a slew of proposals now under consideration. Suggestions include lease-to-own options, rent-and-hold, and joint profit sharing.

Fannie Mae has opened up a new Mortgage Help Center in St. Louis, Missouri, to provide free education and counseling services to struggling homeowners. The St. Louis facility is the GSE's 11th Mortgage Help Center to open across the country. It was developed in partnership with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, local community and elected officials, and area mortgage servicers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) had knowledge of such foreclosure procedural abuses as robo-signing and falsified documentation years before these infractions made front-page headlines and triggered industry-wide investigations, according to the agency's own inspector general. Beyond a number of very specific red flags - including consumer complaints, media reports of foreclosure mills, and even public court filings - the inspector general says the sheer nature of market conditions should have been enough to lead FHFA to take action.