House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-CA, wants various rules and regulations introduced during Trump’s presidency to be rescinded or replaced.
Though both Fannie and Freddie exceed FHFA’s benchmarks for low-income refis, low-income borrowers actually accounted for a smaller share of the companies’ refis than they did for the market as a whole.
Apartment dwellers must be given the “flexibility” to repay back rent over time. However, the new guidance shouldn’t be interpreted by tenants as a get-out-of-jail-free card. As FHFA Director Mark Calabria put it: “If tenants are able to pay their rent, they should continue to do so.”
Pointing to unemployment rates that reached 14.7% in April, and a 7.3% decline in consumer expenditures in March, FHFA is simply acknowledging the obvious: The U.S. economy has entered a recession of unprecedented depth and unknown duration.
Although the FHLBanks market themselves as local lenders, this image doesn’t match their operations. Ten of the nation’s largest commercial banks account for about 30% of FHLBank advances.
The “implied guarantee subsidy” that underpins the FHLBank operations is the reason why financial institutions of all kinds are clamoring for membership, according to former Freddie CEO Don Layton.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said it lacks sufficient data to create statistical models to “reflect economic conditions for 2021” because of the market disruption caused by the coronavirus.
Some industry players believe FHFA Director Mark Calabria wants to use an activities-based review of the market to reduce regulations, which many observers think increase the cost of mortgages.