Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

McCalla Raymer, LLC, a provider of real estate and mortgage banking legal services headquartered in Georgia, has expanded its services to Florida, opening an office location in Orlando. McCalla Raymer specializes in bankruptcy, foreclosure, REO, and eviction services throughout Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. The firm handles commercial and residential real estate and litigation matters for more than 350 clients.

The Obama administration says its plan for reforming the housing finance system will dramatically reduce the government's role in the mortgage market and bring an end to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within seven years. Key actions for phasing out the GSEs include pricing their guarantees based on the same capital standards as private lenders and increasing down payment requirements to 10 percent. The proposal also outlines near-term reforms to correct problems in foreclosure processing such as setting national standards for mortgage servicing.

The industry is abuzz with news that the federal government could unveil its proposal for overhauling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as early as Friday. The GSEs haven't had a profitable quarter in over three and a half years and were placed under government control in 2008 to avert their collapse. Since then, Treasury has pumped more than $150 billion into the two GSEs and cries for their reform have grown louder. The forthcoming proposal is expected to lay out three recommendations that call for phasing out the nation's two largest housing-finance companies.

Fannie Mae announced Monday that it provided $16.9 billion in debt financing for the rental housing market in 2010, through around 2,300 multifamily mortgage loans for 306,000 rental units across the nation. About 91 percent of the multifamily units financed by the company last year were affordable to families who were at or below the median income of their communities.

DecisionReady, a provider of default servicing compliance solutions based in California, announced this week that it has reviewed 1 million delinquent residential mortgage loans for loss mitigation and foreclosure process and policy compliance for leading servicers. DecisionReady technology offers compliance for early stage delinquency through loss mitigation, foreclosure, and the post-sale process to ensure regulatory rules and investor guidelines are met.

Mortgage bankers originated $110 billion of commercial and multifamily mortgages during 2010 - an increase of 36 percent from 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. A separate report from Jones Lang LaSalle corroborates the trade group's assessment of a resurgence in the financing market and indicates even stronger growth in 2011, even without the predicted surge is distressed sales. Wells Fargo is ranked as the largest servicer of commercial and multifamily mortgages.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is restructuring its safety and soundness and mission offices this week, including establishing an integrated supervision structure and a revamped housing mission and policy division. The agency says changes in the supervision program structure will promote greater uniformity and consistency in the examinations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has sided with consumer advocacy groups that say private transfer fee covenants, also referred to as Wall Street home resale fees, place a hidden financial burden on homebuyers and home sellers. FHFA sent a proposed rule to the Federal Register this week, which would limit Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks from dealing in mortgages on properties the federal agency describes as ""encumbered"" by certain types of private transfer fee covenants.

The agency charged with overseeing the nation's two largest mortgage companies is downsizing its own real estate. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said Monday that it is consolidating its three Washington, D.C. office locations into one. FHFA currently has employees in offices on G Street; Pennsylvania Ave.; and Eye St., Northwest, but plans to move all staff to a new central location at the Constitution Center at 400 Seventh St., Southwest, beginning November 2011.

Fannie Mae announced Tuesday it has launched a multifamily mortgage-backed securities system called Fannie Mae Guaranteed Multifamily Structures, or Fannie Mae GeMS, that will include Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) Megas, DUS REMICs, and syndicated DUS Megas.