Tag Archives: FHFA

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a settlement with Barclays Bank PLC for $280 million, resolving legal claims against the bank related to allegations of violations of federal and state securities laws in connection with private-label mortgage-backed securities (MBS) purchased by the GSEs.

Amid continued rising home prices and rising mortgage rates, the number of refinances achieved through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is declining, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Even a slight drop in mortgage rates to 4.3 percent for the month did not bolster February's HARP refinances.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its monthly House Price Index (HPI) for February, revealing continued growth even as winter weather slowed the market. The broad measure of the movement of single-family home prices in this purchase-only index went up by .6 percent, and with the exception of November 2013, marked nearly two straight years of increases.

In a press release issued Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the FHFA reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed 3.1 million foreclosure prevention actions since the two companies came under the government’s conservatorship in 2008.

The FHFA reported mortgage rates for occupied homes was 4.30 percent for loans closed in late February, a decline of 0.07 percent. The interest rate survey also showed the average rate on a conventional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.45 percent, a drop of 22 basis points from January.

Bank of America has agreed to a multibillion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to resolve allegations of securities fraud. According to announcements made by all parties involved, under the agreement, BofA will make an aggregate payment of approximately $9.33 billion, $3.2 billion of which will go toward the repurchase of certain RMBS at fair market value.

Former acting director and current senior deputy director Edward DeMarco announced his intent to part ways with the Federal Housing Finance Agency at the end of April. After serving the agency for nearly six years, Demarco confirmed his plans to depart in a letter to current agency director Mel Watt.

January, 2014 experienced an increase in house prices, which rose by .5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), for the year beginning January, 2013 to January 2014, the HPI increased by 7.4 percent. Prices have increased for 23 of the last 24 months, beginning in February, 2012.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report detailing the results of an audit performed on pre-foreclosure property inspections. The audit was conducted after the FHFAOIG learned of fraudulent property inspections reports submitted to the FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac by a contractor resulted in $12.7 million in payouts.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Friday it had settled two separate lawsuits with Credit Suisse alleging violations of federal and state securities laws in connection with private-label mortgae-backed securities (PLS) purchased by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae during 2005-2007.