Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria on Wednesday defended his agency’s much maligned “adverse market fee” that is designed to help cover losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. “Conservative estimates price COVID-19 related costs for the Enterprises at roughly $6 billion … (and) $4 billion is from expected loan losses due to projected forbearance defaults,” Calabria testified before the House Committee on Financial Services. “The expected losses associated with the foreclosure moratorium amount to at least $1 billion. Other forbearance-related expenses and fees, such as the $500 fee the Enterprises pay to servicers for loss mitigation, account for another $1 billion.” The fee on refinances – which drew criticism from members…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a public health order Tuesday that bans residential evictions through the end of the year to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The CDC order, issued under the Public Health Service Act, covers renters of apartments or residential properties – but does not include a ban on foreclosures on home mortgages. It requires renters to certify to landlords that they would become homeless or forced to live with others “in close quarters” if they were to be evicted. “In the context of a pandemic, eviction moratoria—like quarantine, isolation, and social distancing—can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease,” the CDC said in the order posted in the…
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced Thursday that they are extending the ban on single-family foreclosures and evictions for properties with mortgages managed by the two companies. The suspension, which was put in place to protect homeowners and renters amid the pandemic, will be in effect through the end of the year. It had been set to expire next week. “The extension of our eviction and foreclosure moratorium is just one part of the comprehensive assistance we’re providing borrowers and communities impacted by COVID-19,” said Donna Corley, executive vice president and head of Freddie Mac’s Single-Family business. “We are committed to helping families affected by the pandemic, and we have instructed servicers to work with borrowers who are unable to…
One month at a time. The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Wednesday announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac again extend flexible policies put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including buying loans in forbearance. “Extending these COVID-19 flexibilities helps keep the mortgage market moving and borrowers safe during the pandemic,” FHFA Director Mark Calabria said. The extensions cover: Buying qualified loans in forbearance.Alternative appraisals on purchase and rate-term refinance loans.Alternative methods for documenting income and verifying employment before loan closing.Expanding the use of power of attorney to assist with loan closings. The extension is through Sept. 30. The policies had been set to expire on Monday.…
Faced with a barrage of criticism, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday that it is delaying the implementation date of the “adverse market refinance fee” for three months. The fee – which drew criticism from members of Congress, industry groups and housing advocates – was scheduled to take effect next week. It is now going to take effect Dec. 1, FHFA announced FHFA also said the fee will not apply to refinances on loans below $125,000. “We welcome today’s announcement from the FHFA amending the recently announced Adverse Market Refinance Fee from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit said. “Extending the effective date will permit lenders to close refinance loans that are…
State bankers associations from every state sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria, urging him to rescind the “adverse market fee” on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage refinances. The fee is designed to protect Fannie and Freddie from risk associated with the pandemic. It charges 0.5 percent of the loan amount to the borrower who is refinancing, or roughly $1,400 on the typical mortgage in the United States. “The new fee, referred to as an “adverse market refinance fee,” will harm consumers in urban, rural, and suburban communities across the country,” the associations said in the letter. “Borrowers have been helped by the historically low interest rates, allowing them to refinance their loans into significantly lower…
President Trump again vowed to “save our suburbs” from the “crime and chaos in Democrat run cities,” this time in a joint op-ed with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson published in the Wall Street Journal. “We won’t allow this to happen,” Trump and Carson wrote. “That’s why we stopped the last administration’s radical social-engineering project that would have transformed the suburbs from the top down. We reversed an Obama-Biden regulation that would have empowered the Department of Housing and Urban Development to abolish single-family zoning, compel the construction of high-density “stack and pack” apartment buildings in residential neighborhoods, and forcibly transform neighborhoods across America so they look and feel the way far-left ideologues and technocratic bureaucrats think they should.”…
A coalition of housing, banking and public interest groups on Thursday strongly condemned the Federal Housing Finance Agency for implementing an “adverse market fee” on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage refinances. The fee is designed to protect Fannie and Freddie from risk associated with the pandemic. It charges 0.5 percent of the loan amount to the borrower, or nearly $1,500 on the typical mortgage in the United States. The American Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors and 17 other organizations called the fee an “ill-timed, misguided” surprise. “Wednesday night’s surprise announcement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) conflicts with the Administration’s recent executive actions urging federal agencies to take all measures within their authority…
As President Trump again warned of the dangers of affordable housing to the suburbs, the New Jersey attorney general challenged the Trump Administration to provide evidence that affordable housing leads to increased crime in communities. Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal filed two Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the administration to provide “any factual information it has to support the President’s recent inflammatory and unfounded claims that the presence of affordable housing in communities leads to increased crime.” “Divisive appeals to prejudice with unfounded statements blaming desegregation for crime are detached from the reality here in New Jersey and across the country,” Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. “As a prosecutor and now as New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer,…
President Trump on Wednesday again warned about low-income housing “invading” suburban neighborhoods if Joe Biden is elected president, repeating a theme he has brought up in recent weeks. The president tweeted: “The “suburban housewife” will be voting for me. They want safety & are thrilled that I ended the long running program where low income housing would invade their neighborhood. Biden would reinstall it, in a bigger form, with Corey Booker in charge! @foxandfriends @MariaBartiromo” The “suburban housewife” will be voting for me. They want safety & are thrilled that I ended the long running program where low income housing would invade their neighborhood. Biden would reinstall it, in a bigger form, with Corey Booker in charge! @foxandfriends @MariaBartiromo— Donald…
