Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders have filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging that the takeover of the government-sponsored enterprises was illegal and cost them billions, Bloomberg News reported. [more]

Isaac Hendricks House (Source: StreetEasy)

West Village 18th-century farmhouse listed for $6.9 million. Cushman & Wakefield hired as leasing agent for One Seaport Plaza. Hunter’s Point South waterfront park to open in July in Queens. Spire lifted atop WTC at poignant ceremony. Ludlow Street mainstay Max Fish eyeing Brooklyn move. Read these stories and more after the jump.

Edward DeMarco

The government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are abandoning their separate systems for securitizing home loans and are forming a joint company that could be up and running as soon as next year, NBC News reported.

The consolidation is intended to help reduce the government’s role in the mortgage market, according to its regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and will regulate the new company as well…. [more]

From left: FHFA head Edward DeMarco, the White House

The White House is preparing to nominate a new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as early as next year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The FHFA’s current director, Edward DeMarco, was appointed more than three years ago in an interim capacity after the Obama Administration’s first nominee, Joseph Smith Jr., withdrew from consideration following opposition from Senate Republicans, the Journal said. The FHFA was created four-and-a-half years ago and has never had its own director confirmed by the Senate. The director of the FHFA is a key policymaker because of the agency’s role as the gatekeeper of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. [more]

Ed DeMarco

Does President Barack Obama’s reelection mean sweeping changes to the housing sector? Perhaps down the road, but not in the near future, according to a HousingWire report.

Ed DeMarco, the acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is not likely to leave his post anytime soon, since there is no immediate replacement for him, and Obama is likely to keep him around to lessen the threat of a fiscal cliff early next year, HousingWire said, citing analysis from Compass Point Research & Trading, an investment research firm. [more]

The general counsel for the Federal Housing Finance Agency has come out against a proposed plan to seize underwater mortgage by eminent domain, the Wall Street Journal reported. Alfred Pollard, who said he spoke for himself and not the FHFA, said the practice, proposed by municipalities and private investors would potentially erode the distinction between secured and unsecured lending. [more]

Five sates with the most drawn out foreclosure process, including New York, would see government-backed mortgage fees increase under a new proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The proposal has home loan borrowers in those states paying a one-time fee of 0.15 percent to 0.3 percent for federally backed mortgages starting in 2013, Bloomberg News reported. [more]

Edward DeMarco, acting head of the FHFA

In the wake of the Federal Housing Finance Administration’s firm stance that it will not allow principal reductions for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers, the Obama administration is now looking for new ways to encourage the use of unspent federal housing funds to ease borrowers’ financial pains, Bloomberg News reported.

Some states are using money from the Hardest Hit Fund, a $7.6 billion national aid program which has so far only spent $351 million of its funds, Bloomberg News said, to give debt relief to Fannie and Freddie borrowers. The difference with the money provided by Hardest Hit is that it is provided at no cost to the government sponsored entities, according to Bloomberg. [more]

Timothy Mayopoulos

Fannie Mae has named Timothy Mayopoulos, its top lawyer and a former general counsel for Bank of America, its new chief executive, the New York Times reported. He replaces Michael Williams, who stepped down after 21 years at Fannie, including the last three as CEO.

Mayopoulos has already taken a stance on one of the most controversial issues facing the government-sponsored enterprise. He sided with Federal Housing Finance Agency director Edward DeMarco in saying he doesn’t think Fannie Mae should accept billions in losses by granting troubled homeowner principal reductions on their underwater loans, though some have said it would actually save the agency money. [more]

The national housing market is seeing the brightest spring since the crash, Reuters reported. The housing sector saw rising sales and prices in April, with a nearly 10 percent increase in sales year-over-year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed March home prices up 2.7 percent from the previous March, the largest jump in prices since November 2006. [more]