Treasury
By Carrie Bay | 08/23/2010
Taxpayers' tab for the government's $700 billion dollar bailout program continues to drop. New estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) put the cost of the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at $66 billion. That's nearly $45 billion less than the agency's projection just five months ago.
The agency's estimates for the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac improved as well. Outlays for the two GSEs are expected to fall from $96 billion in 2009 to $41 billion this year.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/20/2010
The administration released new numbers Friday on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Housing analysts and market observers say the results are disappointing at best.
The latest report shows that nearly half of the homeowners approved for trial modifications have fallen out of the program. And during July, servicers converted just 36,695 HAMP trials to permanent status, a significant slow-down considering growth in permanent mods averaged more than 50,000 a month throughout the first half of this year.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/18/2010
The industry has completed about 975,000 permanent loan modifications so far in 2010, according to estimates released this week by the HOPE NOW Alliance.
Of those, only a third have been processed under the umbrella of the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Two-thirds have been servicers' own proprietary mod programs. HOPE NOW also reports, though, that servicers have initiated more than 1.2 million foreclosures this year.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/17/2010
Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still be here in three years? Or will they be replaced by a new federal mortgage agency? Or will the government begin a grand exodus from the housing market and leave the conveyance of the American Dream to the private sector?
These were the questions addressed Tuesday at the administration's housing finance conference in Washington - a discussion that the Treasury says will help shape its proposal for the future of the housing finance system, including the structure of the nation's two largest mortgage companies.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/12/2010
When the Treasury Department released its latest progress report for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in late July, it showed the redault rate for permanently modified loans to be around the two percent mark. An outcry from analysts - and some of you discerning DSnews.com readers - immediately followed, questioning the validity of the government's math. Last week, the Treasury quietly corrected its redefault assessment. The revised numbers are between 6 and 10 percent.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/12/2010
Undoubtedly, the model of home financing is in for a change. And the structural bastions of the nation's mortgage system - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are at the very center of the debate.
Ideas range from completely eliminating the two GSEs to turning them into official government agencies. Next week, Treasury will host a conference in Washington, D.C. on the subject, to gather input and suggestions from industry stakeholders. On Thursday, the administration released its guest list for the event.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/11/2010
The Obama administration said Wednesday that it will provide additional support to help unemployed homeowners through two targeted initiatives.
The Treasury will make another $2 billion available to housing finance agencies in 17 states and the District of Columbia to implement local programs for unemployed homeowners. HUD is also launching a $1 billion program to provide up to 24 months of assistance to homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure because of lost income.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/09/2010
A former Fannie Mae VP has gone public with accusations that the nation's largest mortgage company mishandled its stewardship of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The whistleblower claims that HAMP was impeded by intentional delays and slip-ups because Fannie executives placed their institution's short-term financial interests above helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. A spokesperson for Fannie Mae told DSNews.com that there is "no merit to [the] allegations."
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By Carrie Bay | 08/09/2010
Freddie Mac reported Monday that it lost $4.7 billion during the second quarter. The GSE is asking the Treasury for another $1.8 billion of taxpayer dollars. Freddie has drawn $64 billion from its line of credit with the Treasury since the government took control of the mortgage giant in September 2008.
Despite a continuous string of losses - this was the 11th in the last 12 quarters - Freddie Mac's latest earnings report actually marks an improvement. For the previous three-month period, the GSE posted a $6.7 billion loss.
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By Carrie Bay | 08/05/2010
Fannie Mae's second-quarter losses narrowed considerably from the demoralizing financials of the past several years that found the nation's largest mortgage financier underwater itself in a sea of red ink.
The GSE reported Thursday that it lost $1.2 billion last quarter. It was Fannie's smallest loss in more than three years. The company also said it needs far less money from taxpayers this quarter - $1.5 billion. The company acquired 68,838 single-family REOs through foreclosure in Q2, and its seriously delinquent rate dropped to 4.99 percent.
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