WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants one thing clear when it comes to any decisions on the future of housing finance reform: It hasn't made any, yet.
A top Treasury Department official on Tuesday took aim at a story by The Washington Post that said President Obama had decided to
Neil Wolin, deputy secretary of Treasury, wrote in a
Rather, the president has directed his senior economic and housing advisors to continue to weigh and study each of the options, Wolin said.
Citing unnamed sources, the Post story reported that advisors had been asked by Obama to create a plan that would "keep the government playing a major role in the nation's mortgage market," and that such an approach "could even preserve Fannie Mae and Freddie" just perhaps under different names and with limitations.
The White House was cited in the story as saying it would be "premature to say that senior officials have agreed on any of the three main options" put forth earlier this year.
Wolin also sought to set the record straight that the private sector "should be the dominant provider of mortgage credit."
"That's why, in each, of the options, any government support for housing finance will be targeted and limited," wrote Wolin. "This will help ensure that taxpayers are protected and the private sector bears the burden of losses."
Wolin added that the plan is still to wind down Fannie and Freddie.
"For now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are playing a critical role in providing support to a still-fragile housing market and making mortgage credit available. However, in each of the three options, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be wound down on a responsible timeline," Wolin wrote.
