GSEs

Banks can help ease a severe national shortage in affordable rental properties — and make money doing it.

Officials who assess how well banks lend and invest in their communities seem out of sync with the experiences of Main Street.

A proposal issued two weeks ago by the FHFA calls on the two government-sponsored enterprises to identify opportunities to increase their purchases of small multifamily properties in rural areas, sparking some concern among lenders.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency appears to be on course to decide next year whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should update their credit scoring models.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is giving private mortgage insurers some hope this holiday season that they might get a change to offer deeper mortgage insurance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family loans.

Some mortgage investors are refusing to buy home loans that are at risk of violations of new consumer-disclosure rules. The problem appears to be worst among nonagency jumbo loans purchased by private investors.

Freddie Mac will begin issuing single-family mortgage-backed securities sometime next year via the new common securitization platform, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Thursday.

Sen. Bob Corker championed a provision he added to the budget bill that would temporarily prevent the Treasury Department from recapitalizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and discussed other banking priorities in a sitdown interview with American Banker.

Now is not the time for the Federal Housing Administration — which has stayed strong amid turmoil — to reduce its market share.

The agency released a plan Tuesday that would provide incentives for owners of manufactured housing communities to reform their practices if they want to tap financing by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.