Mortgages

Speculation has mounted that Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending, is under consideration to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. His nomination would be an endorsement of proposals to treat Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a similar way as publicly regulated power or water companies.

Changes made in the waning days of the previous administration limited the government-sponsored enterprises’ purchases of certain loan types, which drew criticism from lenders and community groups alike.

Elizabeth Warren asked the Federal Reserve this week to force the spinoff of the bank’s nonbanking operations. Wells, which was recently hit with another $250 million fine, countered that it has made significant progress in improving its risk management and addressing misconduct.

If confirmed, Alanna McCargo would be the first Senate-approved president at Ginnie Mae since January 2017.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency slammed the scandal-plagued bank for violating a 2018 consent order and for problems with loss mitigation practices in its home lending division. The bank will also be restricted from acquiring certain residential mortgage servicing rights.

On Jun. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

On Jun. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The White House and the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced steps to help nonprofits and public agencies buy foreclosed properties, among other initiatives, as part of a plan to boost supply over the next three years.

The Houston company has agreed to pay a $3 million penalty, provide $4 million in loan subsidies to new borrowers and make other investments aimed at improving home buying opportunities for Black and Hispanic households.

On Jun. 30, 2021. Dollars in thousands.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency in the Trump administration had been preoccupied with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s capital position. Acting Director Sandra Thompson has shifted the agency’s focus to affordable housing and fair lending.

CEO Thomas Cangemi is pushing to modernize a bank that for decades was focused largely on multifamily lending. The company has already agreed to buy the mortgage lender Flagstar Bancorp and its partnership with Figure Technologies, a blockchain-focused fintech, has the potential to make that acquisition more productive.

Fannie Mae should be applauded for allowing lenders to take rent payments into account when underwriting home loans. But lenders will need to embrace other credit scoring models if they hope to turn more renters into buyers.

Financial institutions will have until early October to weigh in about new risk-based capital requirements for nonbanks.

The guarantor of mortgage-backed securities has been without a Senate-confirmed president for four and a half years. The vacancy makes it difficult for other government agencies to coordinate housing objectives, according to stakeholders.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and Federal Housing Finance Agency, which supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, formed a pact to share information and coordinate investigations of potential fair-lending violations.

The agency developed measures taking effect Aug. 31 that, among other things, will allow lenders to prioritize foreclosures of the most impaired loans and then focus on modifying salvageable ones.

The expanded credit access in its automated mortgage decisioning goes into effect in mid September.

Small increases in commercial real estate loan volumes, particularly at midsize banks, may be indicators that the sector has weathered the worst of the pandemic. Construction loan originations, which tend to fall sharply during a recession, are leading the way.

Despite clear evidence to the contrary, the mortgage insurer continues to insist that credit unions have the same risk profile as nonbank lenders. It’s now threatening to exclude nearly a quarter of credit unions from being qualified issuers of the securities it backs.