The Norris Group Blog

Today’s News Synopsis:

A new refinance bill labeled the Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act was introduced yesterday by the Senate that will bring extra changes to the HAMP program.  Moody’s announced the U.S. will lose its AAA credit rating unless Congress comes up with a plan to reduce the debt.  Edward DeMarco announced a new plan is being drafted to bring changes to the government-sponsored enterprises.

In The News:

Bloomberg – “Mortgage Putback Threat Reduced for Lenders Under New U.S. Rules” (9-11-12)

“The U.S. overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, seeking to reduce the threat that banks will have to buy back flawed mortgages from the two firms, laid out new rules designed to spur lending and ease the housing crunch.”

Housing Wire – “Freddie Mac clears mortgage principal reduction in more states” (9-11-12)

“Freddie Mac will allow mortgage servicers to apply federal taxpayer dollars to reduce principal or pay past due balances for struggling borrowers in all states that have designed such programs.”

DS News – “ForeclosureRadar: Foreclosure Starts Down Dramatically in August “ (9-11-12)

“ForeclosureRadar released its Foreclosure Report for August on Monday, revealing that foreclosure starts fell dramatically during the month.”

Realty Times – “Demographics Will Boost Canadian Housing Demand” (9-11-12)

“After booming for more than a decade, the housing market in Canada is expected to level off during the next two or three years.”

CNN Money – “U.S. credit rating hinges on Congress – Moody’s” (9-11-12)

“Next year will be a pivotal one for the United States’ credit standing.   Moody’s said Tuesday it would likely strip the United States of its sterling AAA rating if lawmakers fail to produce a long-term debt reduction plan next year.”

Housing Wire – “FHFA drafting white paper on Fannie, Freddie reform” (9-11-12)

“Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Ed DeMarco shared a tentative plan on government-sponsored enterprise reform while speaking to the American Mortgage Conference in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday.”

DS News – “Senators Introduce Refi Bill to Expand HARP” (9-11-12)

“Lawmakers introduced a new bill on Monday with plans to once more revamp the Home Affordable Refinance Program for current borrowers with eligible loans with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Housing Wire – “Cost of housing meltdown rivals GDP: MBA conference” (9-11-12)

“The housing crisis cost the nation about $13 trillion when tallying all losses from lawsuits, mortgage-backed securities litigation and taxpayer bailouts, a representative with fraud analytics firm Interthinx said.”

Tags: bruce norris, Ed DeMarco, fannie mae, Federal Housing Finance Agency, foreclosure starts, ForeclosureRadar, freddie mac, hamp, Interthinx, Moody's, mortgage bankers association, the norris group

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 at 9:24 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.