Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

Lawyers for Bank of America have filed to overturn a jury verdict last year that held the bank liable for fraud over faulty mortgage-backed securities sold by its Countrywide unit. In their motion, BofA's lawyers argue the government failed to prove the loans involved in the case were advertised as being higher quality than they were.

Having hit their lowest level of 2014 last week, mortgage rates barely budged in the latest market report from Freddie Mac. The company reported Thursday the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.10 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending August 28, unchanged heading into the Labor Day holiday.

A report filed last week by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) states that Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae ignored "red flags" with regards to a mortgage fraud scheme perpetrated by lenders Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Colonial Bank. In addition to the losses absorbed by Freddie Mac (almost $2 billion) and Ginnie Mae (almost $1 billion), private banks that conducted business with Taylor Bean lost billions.

Boosted by an increase in secondary market purchases and a decline in sales, Freddie Mac's portfolio grew for the first time this year in July. The mortgage giant reported 0.1 percent annualized growth in its total mortgage portfolio last month—a turnaround after six straight months of declines. Year-to-date, the portfolio's annualized growth rate is -1.7 percent.

Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi) rose 0.04 percent from May to June, ending the year's first half at a reading of 73. "As we see the economy slowly normalizing we're starting to see its effects in the housing market as well, albeit very slowly," said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. "The good news is the big housing markets, of which some were also the hardest hit, continue to improve."

Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $3.15 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over faulty RMBS. Under the terms of the settlement, Goldman Sachs will pay $2.15 billion to Freddie Mac and about $1 billion to Fannie Mae to buy back the alleged faulty RMBS the two GSEs purchased between 2005 and 2007. FHFA estimates the worth of the settlement to be about $1.2 billion due to the bonds' current value.

Loan risk in the mortgage market slid down again in July but remained far above safe levels, according to the latest measure from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The group reported that 11.41 percent of home purchase loans measured in its National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI) would be at serious risk under "severely stressed" economic conditions.

Average fixed mortgage rates drifted down again this week, sinking to their lowest level so far this year. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average fixed interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.10 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending August 21, down 2 basis points from last week's average. The previous 2014 low was 4.12 percent, first seen in late May and then again three more times throughout the summer.

Following the filing of a separate suit with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, New York-based hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management has filed a second suit against the U.S. government over the handling of GSE profits. In its compliant, Pershing Square suggests that the GSE dividends being diverted into Treasury, which amount to billions of dollars, should be divided among the common shareholders for the GSEs.

Investors have filed another lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging that common stockholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been shortchanged. Three individual common shareholders along with Pershing Square Capital Management alleged in their complaint that the diverting of GSE profits into Treasury equates to taking private property for public use without "just compensation," a practice forbidden by the Fifth Amendment.