Tag Archives: FHFA

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced a lawsuit against the bank in a release Wednesday over ""defective"" loans that were sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The lawsuit stems from origination practices from Countrywide, which BofA acquired in 2008. According to the complaint, Countrywide implemented a loan process called the ""Hustle,"" which pushed loans through the origination process by eliminating quality checkpoints. A spokesperson for Bank of America said the bank ""has stepped up and acted responsibly to resolve legacy mortgage matters.""

While Barack Obama and Mitt Romney may have been ""frustratingly light on detail"" so far with regards to housing, an analysis by Capital Economics reveals the two candidates' policies may have more in common than they care to admit. In a Housing Market Update released by the company, property economist Paul Diggle writes that, based on the information Capital Economics has pieced together, ""it looks like anyone expecting either candidates' housing plan to make a dramatic difference to the course of the housing recovery will be disappointed.""

When a home is sold through a foreclosure sale, at times the debt on the mortgage is not fully recovered through the sale. The remaining amount is the deficiency, and this amount is passed on to the mortgage owner to absorb or to try and collect from the borrower. The FHFA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed in a report Wednesday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a recovery rate of only 0.22 percent when pursuing deficiencies, leaving room for much improvement.

Nearly 99,000 homeowners refinanced their mortgages in August through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said Tuesday. Since the beginning of this year, when a broader group of borrowers were made eligible for the program, the federal government's HARP initiative has put 618,217 homeowners with loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac into new mortgages with lower interest rates. According to FHFA, HARP is on target to reach a million borrowers in 2012.

The nation's economy generally expanded modestly from mid-August until the end of September, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book report issued Wednesday. The report, the last Beige Book to be issued prior to Election Day, painted a mixed regional picture, with a leveling off of economic activity in New York and a slowing in the pace of growth in Kansas City. Residential real estate proved to be a bright spot amid an otherwise pedestrian report.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a revised Strategic Plan for the years 2013 through 2017 Tuesday. The plan is a modified version of the plan FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco presented to congress in February. The plan details four major goals for the FHFA over the next few years. The first goal is to ensure ""safe and sound housing government-sponsored enterprises.""

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is asking for the public's input on a white paper it released Thursday containing proposals for a common securitization platform and a model Pooling and Servicing Agreement.

After acquiring 94 single-family properties in Chicago, The Cogsville Group, LLC has selected FirstService Residential Realty Inc. to manage its rental properties.

New York attorney general and co-chair of RMBS Working Group Eric T. Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank, JPMorgan Securities, LLC (formerly known as Bear Stearns & Co.), and EMC Mortgage LLC (formerly EMC Mortgage Corporation). Schneiderman's complaint alleges that Bear Stearns led investors to believe that the quality of loans in its mortgage-backed securities had been carefully evaluated and would be monitored. The complaint further alleges that as a result of Bear Stearns' and the other defendants' negligence, investors suffered cumulative losses of approximately $22.5 billion.

The Cogsville Group, LLC picked up 94 Fannie Mae foreclosures in Chicago through the Federal Housing Finance Agency's REO Initiative. The Cogsville Group is a private equity firm based in New York with a focus on distressed sales. The FHFA said in a release that all properties purchased through the program were sold near or above market value. The 94 properties sold included 111 units, 68 of which were occupied. FHFA also stated Fannie Mae will continue with bulk sales in markets with a strong demand for rental housing and a surplus of REO properties.