Secondary Market

Rep. Mel Watt (D-North Carolina) is already making waves with an announcement that he plans to delay an imminent increase in guarantee fees (g-fees).

Effective January 1, Ken P. Wilson, MAI, SRA, will take over as president of the Appraisal Institute, the group announced.

Fannie Mae and Wells Fargo have reached an agreement that will close the book on a number of problem legacy loans, both companies announced. According to the separate announcements, Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $591 million to Fannie Mae to resolve repurchase requests on certain loans originated prior to 2009. Adjusting for prior repurchases, the bank will pay $541 million in Q4 2013. In its own statement, Wells Fargo said it had fully accrued for the cost of the agreement as of the end of the third quarter.

In a commentary shared with theMReport.com, Peter Muoio, chief economist for Auction.com Research, revealed the company's predictions for 2014. Chief among his predictions: Housing will get its second wind, the Federal Reserve's stimulus taper will take longer than most people expect, and Congress will (hopefully) get out of the way of the housing recovery--though even Muoio acknowledges the latter prediction might just be hopeful thinking on his part.

In Texas, Wingspan Portfolio Advisors hired Aaron Luburich to take the newly created position of SVP for business development.

Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., announced a deal with Matrix Financial Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Two Harbors, an REIT. According to Flagstar's announcement, the agreement covers the sale of $40.7 billion in unpaid principal balance on residential MSRs, an amount making up about 55 percent of Flagstar's mortgage loans "serviced-for-others" portfolio. The pool of loans covered in the deal is made up of loans originated mostly after 2010 and serviced for Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae, the announcement says.

Ginnie Mae, a government corporation focused on ensuring liquidity to support mortgage lending, announced the start of the first phase in its initiative to modernize its securitization platform. The plan kicked off with the release of four new systems applications for issuers: Request for Pool Numbers, Request for Commitment Authority, Submission of Master Agreements for Certification and Recertification, and Request Transfer of Issuer Responsibility.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) says it wants input on a plan to lower the ceiling for loans eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under FHFA's proposed plan, the $417,000 maximum limit for single-family homes in most areas around the country would be lowered to $400,000, a reduction of about 4 percent. Areas with higher limits would see a similar cut, with the $625,500 maximum dropping to $600,000.

U.S. Bancorp announced the promotion of P.W. Bill Parker to the position of vice chairman and chief risk officer.

According to a release, Freddie Mac issued a record $28 billion in multifamily securities in 2013 through 19 of its K-Deals. Those figures are up from $21.2 billion through 17 K-Deals in 2012.