Government

In their “Eye on Housing” blog, the National Association of Builders (NAHB) broke down the findings of the April 2015 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS), conducted by the Federal Reserve Board. In the survey, banks were asked questions that attempted to judge how they were responding to GSE guidelines issued on November 20, 2014 on life-of-loan representation and warranty exclusions.

Fannie Mae reported a net income of $1.9 billion for the first quarter of 2015, up from $1.3 billion from the previous quarter, according to Fannie Mae's Q1 2015 financial results released Thursday. The primary driver of the nearly 50 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in net income was lower fair value losses for Q1, according to Fannie Mae's announcement.

A new bill has been introduced to legislation by presidential nominee, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). The proposal is intended to prevent another costly taxpayer bailout and safeguard the economy by breaking up the nation’s largest banks. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) proposed a similar bill in the House.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) took steps toward reducing the regulatory burden placed on community national banks and federal savings associations (FSAs) by participating in an outreach meeting as part of the Economic Growth and Paperwork Reduction Act (EGRPRA) on Monday.

U.S. Congressman Ed Royce (R-California) has announced that he plans to submit legislation by the end of the week to prevent a potential pay increase for Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has given Freddie Mac and its fellow GSE, Fannie Mae, authorization to review the salaries of their respective CEOs, Layton and Timothy Mayopoulos. Both CEOs made $600,000 each without bonuses in 2014. The pay reviews for the top executives at the GSEs are largely due to concerns that the Enterprises will not be able to stay competitive because their CEOs make less than some lower-ranked executives.

With the deadline for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules going into effect on August 1, many lenders are increasingly concerned about possible penalties should they not be fully compliant by this date. To address these anxieties, Congressmen Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico) and Brad Sherman (D-California), joined forces to introduce a bill (H.R. 2213) that would provide temporary leniency from lawsuits and law enforcement. If passed, it would remain in effect until January 1, 2016.

Freddie Mac's net income for the first quarter of 2015 totaled $524 million, nearly double the total of a profitable but somewhat slow fourth quarter, according to Freddie Mac's Q1 2015 Financial Report released Tuesday morning. It marked the 14th consecutive quarter of profitability for Freddie Mac.

Since 2012, all GSE profits have been swept into Treasury. The GSEs each have a capital buffer of $1.8 billion, but it is required to be reduced by $600 million per year until it reaches zero by 2018. The Enterprises would require another draw on Treasury should their losses exceed their capital buffer.

Freddie Mac will be reporting its financial results for the first quarter of 2015 on Tuesday, May 5, according to an announcement from the GSE. The results will be announced before the U.S. financial markets open via a conference call at 9 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, May 5.

Six federal financial regulatory agencies Thursday issued minimum requirements for state registration and supervision of entities that provide appraisal management services to lenders, underwriters, and other principals in the secondary mortgage market.