[caption id="attachment_8529" align="alignleft" width="225"] Jonathan Plutzik, new board chair at Fannie Mae[/caption]

Fannie Mae named Jonathan Plutzik to succeed Egbert Perry as chair of the board, effective Dec. 12, 2018. Perry will step down on Dec. 19, 2018, following 10 years of service to the board.

"I am pleased to announce Jonathan Plutzik as the new chair of Fannie Mae's board of directors," said Perry, outgoing chair of the board. "Jonathan's long-standing service and experience on the board will provide the company with deep institutional knowledge and valuable guidance as the company moves forward with its mission to provide access to safe, affordable mortgage financing in the U.S."

Plutzik joined the Fannie Mae board in November 2009. During his tenure, he has served as vice chair of the board and chair of the risk policy and capital committee. Also, he served as vice chair of the strategic initiatives and technology committee, and as a member of the compensation committee.

Perry has been a Fannie Mae director since December 2008 and was appointed chair of Fannie Mae's board in March 2014. Absent a waiver, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's corporate governance regulations limit service on Fannie Mae's board to 10 years or age 72, whichever comes first.

"We greatly appreciate the strong leadership, passion, and integrity Egbert has brought to Fannie Mae over the last 10 years. Egbert played an essential role in leading the transformation of Fannie Mae into the company it is today," said Hugh Frater, interim chief executive officer of Fannie Mae. "Jonathan's appointment as chair brings stability and continuity to the company, and we look forward to continuing our progress in his new role. The board and the company will benefit from Jonathan's insights and commitment to continuing the great strides we have made over the past decade."

Plutzik has served as chairman of Betsy Ross Investors LLC since 2005. Also, he served in positions with Credit Suisse Group for 24 years before retiring as vice chairman in 2002.

"I look forward to continuing working with the board and our talented management team as they advance our mission to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the U.S. housing market and develop innovative solutions to solve America's housing challenges," said Plutzik.

ServiceMac, a provider of sub-servicing and portfolio management services, has selected the Black Knight MSP system to support its clients. It will leverage MSP to deliver a scalable and cost-effective servicing process, with a customer focus that complies with regulations.

"We looked at every mortgage servicing platform on the market," said Bob Caruso, president and CEO of ServiceMac. "After significant due diligence, it was clear that MSP was the best option. The long-term commitment Black Knight makes to its clients, and its focus on delivering innovative solutions represents exactly the provider we were looking for."

MSP is a comprehensive, end-to-end servicing system used by financial institutions to service more than 34 million active loans, among the most in the mortgage industry. The system helps clients manage all servicing processes, from loan boarding and payment processing to escrow administration, default management and so forth. Black Knight's technology infrastructure, data transparency and enhancements to meet changing regulatory requirements will help ServiceMac support its clients

"ServiceMac is poised to be a very successful mortgage servicer due to its customer-focused business model, strong leadership and expertise in the industry," said Joe Nackashi, president of Black Knight Inc.

The Federal Housing Administration released its new schedule of loan limits for 2019, with most areas in the country to experience an increase in loan limits in the coming year.

FHA is required by the National Housing Act, as amended by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, to set single family forward loan limits at 115 percent of median house prices, subject to a floor and a ceiling on the limits. FHA calculates forward mortgage limits by metropolitan statistical area and county.

In high-cost areas of the country, FHA’s loan limit ceiling will increase to $726,525 from $679,650. FHA will also increase its floor to $314,827 from $294,515. Additionally, the national mortgage limit for FHA-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, or reverse mortgages, will increase to $726,525 from $679,650. FHA’s current regulations implementing the National Housing Act’s HECM limits do not allow loan limits for reverse mortgages to vary by metropolitan statistical area or county; instead, the single limit applies to all mortgages regardless of where the property is located.

Due to robust increases in median housing prices and required changes to FHA’s floor and ceiling limits, which are tied to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s increase in the conventional mortgage loan limit for 2019, the maximum loan limits for FHA forward mortgages will rise in 3,053 counties. In 181 counties, FHA’s loan limits will remain unchanged. By statute, the median home price for a metropolitan statistical area is based on the county within the MSA having the highest median price. It has been Housing and Urban Developments’s long-standing practice to use the highest median price point for any year since the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

The National Housing Act, as amended by HERA, requires FHA to establish its floor and ceiling loan limits based on the loan limit set by FHFA for conventional mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHA’s 2019 minimum national loan limit, or floor of $314,827 is set at 65 percent of the national conforming loan limit of $484,350. This floor applies to those areas where 115 percent of the median home price is less than the floor limit.

Any areas where the loan limit exceeds this ‘floor’ is considered a high-cost area, and HERA requires FHA to set its maximum loan limit ‘ceiling’ for high-cost areas at 150 percent, $726,525, of the national conforming limit.

Based upon the volume of FHA endorsements in FY 2018, the following chart represents the number and share of counties where FHA loan limits are at the ceiling, floor and somewhere in between.