Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

In February, the D.C. Circuit panel gave the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) a win over the allocation of profits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the Treasury. This affirmed a lower court’s ruling that actions taken under the FHFA’s conservatorship of the GSEs cannot be challenged in court, however Fannie and Freddie shareholders sued the two for agreeing to the deal. Now, the FHFA and Treasury are urging the D.C. Circuit not to modify its ruling.

Discouraging results in the May 2017 Employment Situation are leading experts to believe there could be a rate hike in 2017. Unemployment rates were fairly stagnant and though total nonfarm payroll increased, results were well under predictions. Wage growth showed no improvement. 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is looking to the public for input regarding Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in the mortgage lifecycle. LEF borrowers currently face challenges applying for mortgages because they risk not understanding or relying too much on a source that could mislead them. FHFA looks to better understand the experience LEP borrowers have in order to improve support from the mortgage industry.

After undergoing an extensive testing process, a mortgage document preparation vendor announced its Uniform Closing Dataset XML file has been certified by the GSEs. This new way of submitting documents will be required by Fannie and Freddie starting in the fall for all lenders selling to them. The company trusts this will bring consistency, transparency and clarity to the mortgage industry.

On Wednesday, LendingHome, a mortgage marketplace lender, announced two new business developments. The company gained Fannie Mae seller and servicer approval, which according to LendingHome, allows them to expand their consumer home financing business and better serve their customers. They also announced Robert Stiles, formerly Nationstar Mortgage, as CFO.

On Thursday, both FHFA Director Melvin L. Watt and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin separately addressed the current state of the GSEs. Though Mnuchin discussed the priority of housing finance and regulatory reform in front of the Senate, at an industry conference Watt described the many successes of the FHFA in the last nine years. Watt warned that reforms made during conservatorship should not be ignored by congress during the reworking of housing finance reform.

Following in the footsteps of other industries, mortgage firms are starting to adopt new technologies like Application Programming Interfaces (API) in order to reduce errors and costs and speed up transactions. Lenders utilizing APIs said they do so primarily to integrate appraisal and verification information with their Loan Origination System. According to lenders, loan production holds the greatest potential for APIs and Chatbots alike.

After a slow first quarter, Fannie Mae expects Q2 to be strong. The GSE certainly has ample precedent to cling to in its predictions. If Fannie’s projections hold true, this will be the fourth consecutive time a Q2 rebound followed a bland Q1.

On Thursday, FHFA Director Melvin Watt told a senate committee that the future of the U.S. housing finance system is unsustainable as-is. He implored Congress to solve numerous tough questions involved in moving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out from under federal conservatorship. If not, taxpayers could be on the hook.

The House of Representatives has amended HR 1694, extending the nine exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia). Passed in April, HR 1694 requires the GSEs to adhere to the FOIA, something they've never had to do since entering conservatorship in 2008.