Vice President Joe Biden, HUD Secretary Julián Castro, and the Obama Administration say they are are committed to leveling the playing field for all Americans and increasing access to safe and affordable housing.
Read More »Stewart Information Services Hires Chief Information Officer
Stewart Information Services Corp. has announced the hire of Brad Rable as the company’s chief information officer. In this role, Rable will help guide the company’s information technology transformation and he will lead Stewart’s information technology vision, strategy, and execution.
Read More »Two-Year High for Pending Home Sales Shows ‘Positive Momentum’ For Housing
"This is a positive sign heading into the spring homebuying season," Freddie Mac wrote on its blog. "This also shows positive momentum in general for the housing market, since this is the fourth consecutive month pending home sales have been up."
Read More »Clayton Holdings Taps New CEO for European Subsidiary
Former CEO of Britannic Money and leading UK finance sector figure Tony Ward has been appointed as president and CEO of Clayton Euro Risk Limited. Ward’s appointment, made by the board of Clayton Euro Risk’s U.S. parent company Clayton Holdings, will begin in April.
Read More »House Bill Aims to Protect Taxpayers by Establishing Capital Reserve Fund for GSEs
The secondary reserve could also be referred to as an escrow account, where funds are held until a resolution is created on GSE reform. The bill would establish a secondary reserve by inserting the new language into the existing statutes.
Read More »House Committee Approves Bills to Provide Regulatory Relief for Banks
Hensarling noted the 11 bills passed by the Committee had bipartisan support and had previously been approved by either the Financial Services Committee or the House of Representatives during the 113th Congress. However, none of the bills came up for a vote in the Senate, which was then under Democratic control.
Read More »Ocwen Refutes RMBS Investors’ Claims in Letter to Trustees
In February, an independent study found many of Ocwen’s servicing business was "effective," according to the letter. The research, conducted by Morgan Stanley’s RMBS strategy team, stated, "Whether a borrower first went delinquent while being serviced by Ocwen, or fell delinquent and was then transferred to Ocwen, we find that these borrowers are more likely to be in their homes today than if the MSRs were held elsewhere."
Read More »FHFA Director ‘Very Proud’ of Agency’s Progress on Strategic Plan Initiatives
According to the report, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exceeded their $90 billion risk transfer goal. During 2014, the two Enterprises executed credit risk transfers on single-family mortgages with unpaid balance transfers of over $340 billion. As part of the FHFA requirement both enterprises continued to reduce their mortgage portfolios. As of December 2014, Freddie Mac’s portfolio stood at $408 billion and Fannie Mae’s stood at $413 billion, for a combined reduction of $131 billion. Both numbers were significantly under the $470 billion cap required by the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements.
Read More »Judge Approves $69 Million MBS Settlement for Bank of America, U.S. Bank
The institutional investors, including affiliates of investment manager BlackRock Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, had objected to the settlement, saying it excludes them from the class, while simultaneously releasing their claims against U.S. Bank in a derivative action. The judge said the terms of the agreement didn’t bar those investors' claims.
Read More »Representative Plans to Consider Different Approach to Passing Regulatory Relief
Fitzpatrick noted Tuesday that each of the individual bills included in his legislation, the “Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burden Act,” had bipartisan support when they either passed the full House or his committee. But when packaged together, they have drawn the ire of more liberal Democrats.
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