Category: Top National News

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 20, 2019–Nick Timiraos (subscription)Federal Reserve officials agreed at their meeting last month to announce soon a plan to stop shrinking their $4 trillion portfolio of bonds and other assets later this year, according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday.

HousingWire, Feb. 20, 2019–Jessica GuerinHome equity levels are climbing while mortgage interest rates are falling, and this has some experts predicting an inevitable boom in cash-out refinances.

Urban Institute, Feb. 19, 2019; Corianne Payton Scally, Camille H. Anoli, Patrick SpausterThe NFMC program was designed and implemented by NeighborWorks America, a Congressionally chartered nonprofit organization. Based on our analysis of the NFMC program and its implementation, we identified four lessons that national policymakers can use as guide posts when responding to the next national crisis.

Bloomberg, Feb. 19, 2019–Christopher MaloneyMortgage loan servicers will be thrust into the spotlight as the success of the so-called Uniform mortgage-backed securities set to launch on June 3 is highly dependent on the continued convergence of prepayment speeds seen in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities.

Reverse Mortgage Daily, Feb. 19, 2019–Martin OlsenAs more reverse mortgage companies continue to expand their operations into the forward space in response to business changes and new realities, a shift appears to be taking place in what was once seen as conventional wisdom: the separation of forward and reverse mortgage business practices, in order for originators to remain specialized in one of the fields so that more dedicated service could be provided one way or the other.

American Banker, Feb. 19, 2019–Victoria Finkle (free article)It’s understandable and even expected that an administration wouldn’t be entirely forthcoming while it’s developing a policy for overhauling something as large as the mortgage finance market, given the potential impact to so many facets of the economy.But that doesn’t explain away the competing narratives of the last few weeks–narratives that actually seem to contradict each other.

Reuters, Feb. 15, 2019U.S. homeowners who fell behind on their mortgage payments dropped to the lowest levels in 18 years in the final quarter of 2018, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Friday.

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 15, 2019–Valerie Bauerlein, Kate King, Cameron McWhirter (subscription)The collapse of Amazon.com Inc.’s plan to build a second headquarters in New York City has the potential to damp some states’ willingness to offer tax breaks. Spurred by Amazon’s second-headquarters selection process, politicians and groups long opposed to incentive packages have launched legislative efforts to prohibit them in some states.

Washington Post, Feb. 15, 2019–Renae MerleFormer congressman Mel Watt misused his position as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency by attempting to “coerce or induce” a relationship with a female employee seeking a promotion, according to a previously unreleased inspector general’s report. Watt has denied the allegations.

Los Angeles Times, Feb. 17, 2019–Andrew KhouriAs stories piled up of homeowners beig smooth-talked into taking home improvement loans they couldn’t afford, defenders of the PACE program cited its safety features. But some contractors apparently dance around those rules, as shown by the recent collapse of two firms.