GSE reform

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a proposal Wednesday that would require mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to align their policies on cash flows for current mortgage-backed securities, and eventually for a uniform security when it is implemented next year.

Housing finance reform is still likely years away, but a growing chorus of lawmakers say the government guarantor has the ability to clear the path to a final plan.

The proposal by Reps. Jeb Hensarling and John Delaney is a sign that a bipartisan consensus is building on how to move on from Fannie and Freddie.

The proposal by Reps. Jeb Hensarling and John Delaney is a sign that a bipartisan consensus is building on how to move on from Fannie and Freddie.

The departing House Financial Services chair unveiled a bill with Democrat John Delaney to repeal Fannie and Freddie's charters and establish Ginnie Mae as a backstop.

Freddie Mac is promoting Executive Vice President David Brickman to president and will consider him among possible candidates to be the agency's next CEO after Don Layton retires next year.

The Treasury Department and a key housing regulator are preparing to fill a second possible vacancy atop a U.S.-controlled mortgage giant, a move that could strengthen the Trump administration's hand in addressing unfinished business from the 2008 credit crisis.

Maybe political winds or another downturn will spark housing finance reform. But 10 years after the conservatorships began, the companies are still in perpetual limbo.

The Congressional Budget Office has found that restructuring the mortgage market would save the government billions of dollars but may increase the cost of housing.

The employee who made sexual harassment allegations against the agency’s director also claims Watt withheld her pay increase after she refused his advances.