Freddie Mac

Readers react to the Senate overriding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's auto lending guidance, weigh in on House efforts to reform the Dodd-Frank Act and debate technology being used to replace new branches.

The government is pushing up mortgage prices to dangerous levels by easing credit standards in a market where supply is low but demand is high.

The reserve bank's proposal to address banks and nonbanks that remain "too big to fail" does not include two of the largest such institutions: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The annual progress report on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorships reiterated that a new credit score model will likely not be operational until after the implementation of a new Single Security Initiative.

After several years of preparation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will start issuing a new, common mortgage-backed security starting June 3, 2019, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday.

News that the GSEs need an infusion from Treasury to cover quarterly losses underscores problems with the government’s 2012 decision to “sweep” the housing giants’ profits.

As policymakers take another crack at housing finance reform, federal leaders and the housing lobby are once again perpetuating the false notion that ending government guarantees would cause the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to vanish.

Freddie Mac and Arch Capital are testing a new form of risk-sharing deal to boost investor appetite for low down payment mortgages. But the pilot is raising concerns about "charter creep" because it dictates private mortgage insurance decisions typically made by lenders.

A clear government backstop for the mortgage market would benefit small banks and investors by ensuring a stable and liquid secondary market for securities.

A late addition to regulatory relief legislation would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to review credit-scoring alternatives, but some say the provision is redundant.