Tag Archives: FHFA

Under a new guideline, military members with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans will now have an easier time with short sales. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco announced in a release Thursday that military homeowners who receive Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders can sell their homes via short sale without having to go into default first. Last year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued guidance to servicers to have PCS orders count as a hardship for military members seeking relief. The new policy takes an even greater step forward and will allow military members with PCS orders to sell a primary residence purchased on or before June 30, 2012 for less than the balance on their mortgages even when current on their payments.

As an additional measure against fraud, the FHFA announced an initiative requiring Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan (FHL) Banks to notify the agency when an act of fraud is committed by an individual or company the regulated entities conduct business with. The initiative is called the Suspended Counterparty Program and will take effect August 15, 2012. The FHFA stated it is taking this additional step to ensure the regulated companies are not exposed to unnecessary risk from business dealings involving those who have a history of fraudulent conduct.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed nearly 2.3 million foreclosure prevention actions by from the start of their conservatorship to the end of March 2012, according to FHFA'ss Foreclosure Prevention Report for first-quarter 2012. The report, released Friday, showed that over 1.9 million of the foreclosure prevention actions undertaken by the GSEs have helped borrowers keep their homes. Moreover, half of borrowers who received loan modifications in Q1 2012 had their monthly payments reduced by more than 30 percent, with one third of those including principal forbearance.

In a letter filed Wednesday to FHFA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) expressed its view that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should seek to align their operations as much as possible. The alignment would help set the stage and ease transition into the future for the GSEs, SIFMA suggests. SIFMA also submitted a list of steps and goals of FHFA's Strategic Plan to coordinate the GSEs and says they will require communication, careful planning, and a focus on the Enterprises' core activities from the industry at every stage.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have and will continue to realize credit losses due to mortgages originated years before the conservatorship when the GSEs were deemed critical supervisory concerns, FHFA stated in its annual Report to Congress. In 2011, Fannie and Freddie borrowed $33.6 billion from Treasury, an increase from the year before when $28 billion was drawn. Of the $33.6 billion, $16.1 billion was used to fund dividend payments back to Treasury. The losses leading to the $17.5 billion drawn from Treasury were due to business decisions made by the GSEs in the pre-conservatorship days. Overall, the GSEs have drawn $187.5 billion from Treasury as of the end of 2011.

The board of directors for Fannie Mae announced Tuesday the appointment of Timothy J. Mayopoulos, 53, as president and CEO beginning June 18. Mayopoulos will replace current chief executive Michael J. Williams, who announced his resignation in January. Currently, Mayopoulos serves as EVP, chief administrative officer, and general counsel for Fannie. He has spent more than 25 years in the financial services sector, holding senior-level posts with Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse First Boston.

The Community Mortgage Lenders of America (CMLA) released a white paper outlining its policy suggestions for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Shrinking the GSEs role in the secondary market to 30-35 percent and preventing them from securitizing or investing into risky mortgages were among the ideas the trade group endorses. Still, the CMLA said it wants to see the GSEs remain intact due to uncertainty in the markets and to ensure further destabilization does not occur.

The number of loans refinanced through HARP in the first quarter of 2012 was nearly double the number of refinances in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) March 2012 Refinance Report. The report showed that 180,185 loans were refinanced through HARP during the year's first quarter, nearly twice the 93,190 refinances in the previous quarter. The month of March alone saw 79,470 loans refinanced with HARP, and nearly one in seven loan refinances in the quarter were done through program. The FHFA attributed most of this increase to the launch of HARP 2.0, an enhanced version of the program that eliminated loan-to-value (LTV) ceilings for borrowers.

Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), announced Thursday the appointment of Wanda I. DeLeo as Deputy Director leading the newly created Office of Strategic Initiatives. DeLeo has served in several leadership roles at FHFA, including her most recent stint as Deputy Director for the agency's Division of Examination Programs and Support.

As debate continues over California Attorney General Kamala Harris' Homeowner Bill of Rights, members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation are questioning involvement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). A letter issued from the delegation Wednesday criticized another letter sent to the California State Legislative Conference Committee from FHFA general counsel Alfred Pollard on May 11.