Fannie Mae To Directly Approve Short Sales

Having successfully completed over 58,000 short sales in 2012, Fannie Mae announced that they are taking additional steps to speed up the short sale process and help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure.  They will do this through their newly introduced HomePath for Short Sales tool, which is designed to help overcome common short sale challenges. Available […]

As of Nov. 1, the new short sale guidelines announced by Freddie Mac went into effect. These guidelines now ensure that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have the same rules regarding short sales. There are three main things to be aware of in these guidelines that are designed to speed up the traditionally long, slow […]

This one is hot off the presses, and we’ll be learning more as the days come. On Wednesday it was announced that, in a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit, the US is accusing Bank of America of “selling thousands of toxic home loans to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that went into default and caused more […]

Beginning Nov. 1, the GSEs, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, will implement new short sale guidelines, designed to make the approval process easier for eligible borrowers. This is part of the Servicing Alignment Initiative that results in a decrease in documentation requirements. There are a number of additional changes included, all designed to ease the […]

There is another great housing foreclosure debate raging in governments – this time over the issue of eminent domain. Some local governments are throwing around the idea of condemning mortgages through eminent domain. It would work like this – a town or county “would seek court approval to pay a ‘fair market’ value to a […]

In February, for the first time, Fannie Mae announced that they would be selling bulk homes in specific metro areas – namely Florida, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and Phoenix. It’s the first time they are agreeing to sell a large block of homes in one concentrated area. Previously, any bulk sales would include […]

In February, the Federal Housing Finance Agency started a pilot program to solicit bids from qualified investors to buy 2,500 single-family Fannie Mae foreclosed homes. The sale pools were offered in geographically concentrated areas around the country. Investors were thoroughly vetted in a rigorous evaluation process on several factors, including financial strength, asset management experience, […]

As of a couple of months ago, short sales accounted for nearly 15% of all home sales in the country. That number continues to grow as homeowners see short sales as a viable alternative to foreclosure. While foreclosures still make up ¼ of all home sales, that figure is down from the previous two years. […]

More and more, Americans aren’t letting a foreclosure, bankruptcy or short sale prevent them from becoming homeowners again, and quickly. In year’s past, the only option seemed to be renting. But today, as rental prices are on the rise, they want to take advantage of low home prices. So where is the help coming from […]

Taxpayers are getting a little breather as Fannie Mae turned a profit at $3.1 billion, passing the $2.8 billion required Treasury payment. This is the first time since going into conservatorship in 2008 that the GSE hasn’t required a draw. Fannie’s CFO, Susan McFarland, is anticipating continued strong performance results. "Our credit performance is headed […]