Wednesday 4th December
Home » Archives
Not Surprisingly, HAMP & HARP Programs Extended Once Again
Written on 8 May, 2015 at 18:12
The FHFA has announced that it has extended Fannie and Freddie's participation in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) for an additional year, until the end of 2016.... (Continue reading)
SAY WATT? Fannie & Freddie Encourages Sub-Prime Lending, Can Mean Only 3% Down
Written on 23 Oct, 2014 at 9:52
FHFA director Mel Watt, not ironically speaking while in Las Vegas, offered government's desperate response to help housing... the only thing they can think of to do at this point. ... (Continue reading)
Homeowners: Start Your Emails… This is Your Chance for $50 Billion Principal Reductions
Written on 13 Dec, 2012 at 11:22
Please take this chance to make your voice heard, and tell everyone you know whose home is underwater they should do the same. We screamed our heads off about AIG bonuses, both in the streets and in the tens... (Continue reading)
BYE-BYE DEMARCO! Obama to Replace Director of FHFA
Written on 11 Dec, 2012 at 2:55
The mortgage market is not just dominated by the government, the mortgage market is the government, and that's not just here in the US, it's everywhere. Governments are the lenders of ONLY resort. ... (Continue reading)
FHFA Looking to Jail Strategic Defaulters
Written on 15 Sep, 2012 at 8:45
There's no such thing as people who can pay their mortgages no problem but just feel like cleaning out their garage, ruining their credit, and then living in an apartment where the kitchen smells like ass for the next five... (Continue reading)
Fannie’s “Decoy Assignment” a NEW Foreclosure Defense – A Mandelman Matters Podcast with Atty. Tom Cox
Written on 30 Jul, 2012 at 6:03
Tom has recently discovered a practice employed by the GSE's... Fannie and Freddie. It has to do with what we're calling "The Decoy Assignment," and it's a matter of policy. He's arguing it successfully in court.... (Continue reading)
What is Ed DeMarco Thinking?
Written on 10 Jun, 2012 at 17:48
Edward DeMarco of the FHFA is the conservator for the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At this point the president, the Secretary of the Treasury, and many in congress have asked him about participating in anything... HAMP, principal... (Continue reading)
HAMP 2 is HERE – Some say it’s the best HAMP yet, and they’re probably right about that.
Written on 9 Jun, 2012 at 0:48
This newly renovated version of HAMP has been touted as being a major improvement to the HAMP program, and in many ways it is significantly better. ... (Continue reading)
Debt Forgiveness – The IMF, Iceland, and the U.S. of the 1930s all say it works
Written on 7 May, 2012 at 6:25
Iceland's mortgage write-down program happened as a result of thousands of its citizens taking to the streets demanding that something be done about the debts the people had incurred buying homes during the bubble at what turned out to be... (Continue reading)
We know they’re not evil, because they’re simply not smart enough to be evil.
Written on 23 Apr, 2012 at 14:06
The European bankers are no different than is the FHFA, which is led by Ed DeMarco, the guy stopping Fannie and Freddie from reducing principal balances of mortgages. He says he won't do it because his job is to... (Continue reading)
MM PODCAST: From Fannie Mae to FHA – Edward Pinto Wants Government Out of Housing Finance
Written on 28 Mar, 2012 at 20:50
On this Mandelman Matters Podcast, I ask Ed about the results of his extensive research into the FHA, which he refers to as the "new sub-prime," and "the next bailout." His extensive study of the FHA's data in terms... (Continue reading)
If WE owned a pool of loans… would WE allow principal reductions?
Written on 27 Mar, 2012 at 10:12
To really understand what happens when trying to determine the present and future value of a pool of loans within a mortgage-backed security, let's put ourselves in the place of the investors... we'll be investors together... and we'll want to... (Continue reading)
Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris ASKS Fannie and Freddie to Stop Foreclosing
Written on 29 Feb, 2012 at 8:16
Actually, I don't even know if she can pull off that angry black woman thing, but that's exactly what we need at a time like this. You think Weezy Jefferson would be putting up with some nerdy pasty white... (Continue reading)
Freddie Mac’s Crimes Against Homeowners are NOT an Isolated Incident
Written on 30 Jan, 2012 at 18:35
ProPublica is reporting that Freddie Mac has been placing "multi-billion dollar bets designed to only pay off when homeowners remain "trapped" in high interest rate loans, and that the government-owned mortgage monster began increasing such bets late in 2010, which... (Continue reading)
DeMarco of the FHFA… Like when the baby gets a hold of a hammer.
Written on 1 Dec, 2011 at 13:37
So, I'm bringing all of this up because Mr. Edward DeMarco, who is just the "acting" director of the independent federal agency that placed both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship in the fall of 2008, has actually become... (Continue reading)
Obama’s New Plan to Help Housing Isn’t Worth Waiting For
Written on 22 Oct, 2011 at 8:17
Even Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the independent Federal Housing Finance Agency says his fix will be more of a tune-up than an overhaul, with reduced "frictions" and "enhancements."... (Continue reading)
GUEST POST: Prove Fannie & Freddie Innocent Before Suing the Banks – And Here Is How
Written on 7 Sep, 2011 at 13:29
For twelve years during and after the Savings & Loan crisis (1988-2000), I led the group of business analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers that was responsible for monitoring Ginnie Mae's $600 billion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities. During that period, I learned... (Continue reading)
Bringing UP the Rear – Fannie Mae’s President and CEO, Michael J. Williams
Written on 1 Jul, 2011 at 3:20
And I'll never be able to prove this, but I'm al most positive that I could have bankrupted Fannie Mae for a lot less than $1.5 trillion, and I don't know anything about the mortgage business. In fact, I... (Continue reading)
$160 Million to DEFEND Fannie & Freddie? Now, if I could only find that damn rabbit hole I must have slid down…
Written on 24 Jan, 2011 at 10:42
So, we the taxpayers have spent $160 Million DEFENDING them? Defending them? Gretchen... I think you must have a typo there, right? Shouldn't the question be, how much are we spending to PROSECUTE them? I mean,... (Continue reading)
Foreclosures Poised to Take Down the U.S. Banking System… and even entire economy, says Whalen. (Ya’ think?)
Written on 21 Dec, 2010 at 7:32
"Laurie Goodman of Amherst Securities predicts that 1 in 5 mortgages could go into foreclosure without radical action." Now just a minute here... you're not saying that one out of five people with mortgages are "irresponsible sub-prime borrowers who never... (Continue reading)
Voting on Principal Reductions: Treasury: YES… FHFA: NO… Obama Administration: YES… Congressional Republicans: NO. Good Lord.
Written on 20 Dec, 2010 at 1:30
Obama has been pressuring FHFA to let Fannie Mae grant principal reduction... the President of the United States is pressuring them... Ohhh, is it like Guantanamo... or more like Canyon Ranch... pressure me some more, Barack... I like it when... (Continue reading)
Report Shows Treasury Disagrees With Loan Mod Decisions at Chase, Wells & BofA – Requires Servicers to Make Changes Going Forward
Written on 27 Sep, 2010 at 23:55
Well, in the August HAMP Report, which is published monthly by Treasury, is a chart that shows that Treasury has disagreed with a higher than average number of the decisions being made by CHASE, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.... (Continue reading)
Treasury Designs New Federal Program to Help Stimulate Economy
Written on 7 Sep, 2010 at 22:31
Secretary Geithner explained the program to reporters while waiting for his dessert soufflé to rise. Those in attendance said that he told the group that the program would help homeowners and get the economy back on track by removing... (Continue reading)
Worst June EVER for New Home Sales
Written on 27 Jul, 2010 at 7:12
Adjusted down to a rate of 267,000 annual sales was the worst month on record. That "rate," and I do love the way they report monthly numbers as an "annual sales RATE," means that 22,250 new homes were... (Continue reading)
Elizabeth Warren on the Foreclosure Crisis
Written on 19 Jul, 2010 at 8:58
Elizabeth Warren: "It's about respect. I believe that the American people ought to be part of the conversation about what's happening in our economy, and what's happening in Washington D.C. and what's happening on Wall Street. I truly... (Continue reading)
FHFA Subpoenas Data from 64 Issuers of Mortgage Backed Securities
Written on 13 Jul, 2010 at 5:25
Uh oh. Someone's gonna' be in big trouble... as in... Lucy, you got some "˜splainin' to do. Is it warm in here all of a sudden?... (Continue reading)
House Hearings to Answer Question: Are Loan Servicers Honoring Their Commitments to Help Preserve Homeownership?
Written on 6 Jul, 2010 at 11:06
Everything's going just fine. There are no real problems with HAMP or with the servicers who are implementing HAMP. Oh sure, there have been a few challenges, but most of them have been caused by the borrowers who... (Continue reading)
Obama Asks for Help from Public to Reform Housing Finance System?
Written on 15 Apr, 2010 at 1:14
Do you suppose that next week he's going to ask if we have any thoughts on Afghanistan? Oh my God! I'm taking an Adivan. Who did he ask about health care reform? Oh my God! ... (Continue reading)