Three former CEOs of the GSEs this week debated the impact of federal conservatorship, what steps must be taken to safely end the oversight and what the GSEs should look like afterwards.
A 2021 SCOTUS decision made FHFA just another agency of the executive branch. That means Trump can meddle with any GSE policies and programs he chooses.
The former Freddie executive said eliminating mortgage servicing rights, or transferring them to the GSEs, would eliminate the need for nonbank mortgage servicers to make servicing advances on delinquent loans.
Housing finance aficionados may doubt Fannie and Freddie will ever exit conservatorship, but that doesn’t stop them from telling you what that exit would look like.
Former Freddie CEO Don Layton said the pilot’s only connection to housing is that some of the homeowner’s equity is used as collateral for the new second.
The combination of the NAR settlement, better coordination between White House and FHFA, and the resurgence of the CFPB may help establish real price competition in the housing and mortgage markets.
Don Layton applauded FHFA’s plans to reform the FHLBanks, arguing that it will take strong, independent supervision to prevent them from exploiting their government subsidy for private gain.
The FHLBanks, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have a public/private structure that can incentivize private profits at public cost. Don Layton, former Freddie CEO, said the banks are ripe for reform.