Freddie Mac

Policymakers should differentiate between housing finance-related issues of real importance to the greater public interest, and those that concern only special interests.

While Freddie Mac is moving cautiously into buying manufactured housing loans not secured by land, Fannie Mae is moving more aggressively. Industry representatives are divided on which approach is superior.

The discounts that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used to offer large originators for selling them bulk bundles of mortgages continue to haunt small lenders, who worry a new housing finance system could revive the practice.

Property Assessed Clean Energy loans can no longer be offered in unincorporated areas of Kern County, Calif. The controversial loans, meant to promote energy efficiency, began in California and are now offered in a number of states.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group agreed to pay $5.5 billion to settle the second of three major U.S. mortgage-backed securities probes the government-owned lender must overcome before it can fully return to the private sector.

Jerome Powell says it's “now or never” to cut the government’s role in mortgage finance; Justice Department is monitoring eight banks for suspected money laundering.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jerome Powell stopped short of endorsing any single housing finance reform plan, but called on lawmakers to resolve what he described as the biggest unfinished business of the crisis.

From the largest banks to the smallest independents, policymakers want to hear the mortgage industry speak with one voice in the critical efforts to reform the government-sponsored enterprises.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency made just incremental changes to two of the seven affordable housing benchmarks.

With lawmakers bracing for a major policy undertaking to reform the government-sponsored enterprises, they can take comfort that they don’t need to start from scratch.

The Senate is set to begin teeing up housing finance reform discussions at a Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, but many are skeptical that Congress will be able to succeed where it has failed in the past.

As long as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exist, they must have adequate capital so taxpayers will never again be compelled to help them meet their financial obligations.

The ICBA backs a plan to recapitalize Fannie and Freddie through retained earnings and public offerings, but other groups see it as a self-interested proposal to help GSE stockholders.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was pressed for his views on housing finance reform, what a “modernized” version of the Glass-Steagall Act would look like and a two-tiered regulatory system.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be able to rebuild a capital buffer to avoid any potential crisis in the mortgage market, according to a coalition of affordable housing advocates, homebuilders and small mortgage lender groups.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to face tough questions on the OCC, Glass-Steagall and housing finance reform when he testifies on Thursday.

FHFA Director Mel Watt warned Thursday that to prevent a potential draw on the Treasury Department by the government-sponsored enterprises, he is willing to act unilaterally to rebuild capital at Fannie and Freddie.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued proposals Monday to create pilot programs for loans on mobile homes, part of an ambitious plan for underserved and rural housing markets.

If proposed tax cuts were enacted, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be required to make an initial adjustment that could wipe out their capital.

Freddie Mac's serious delinquency rate dropped below 1% for the first time since 2008, lending credence to its efforts to expand credit access.