Investors Unite, a group of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders seeking to reverse the so-called net profit sweep — the mechanism by which the Federal Housing Finance Agency sends all GSE profits to the Treasury as dividends — held a sort of figurative rally last week to celebrate a recent string of legal victories.

In a joint letter sent late last month, Maxine Waters, D-CA, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sherrod Brown, D-OH, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, raised serious questions about the legitimacy of Joseph Otting’s recent designation as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Mark Calabria, the White House nominee to be the next permanent director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will get a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Feb. 14. The SBC released the hearing schedule for Calabria and other nominees late Thursday.

Sen. Mike Crapo, chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, stirred the GSE pot last week by issuing his outline on how to restructure the nation’s housing-finance system. While short on details, the blueprint appears to contain a little something for everyone. That just might make it a good starting point for bipartisan negotiations on legislative reform.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a combined total of just $51.86 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities in January, their lowest monthly production since February 2016. [Includes two data charts.]

The Treasury Department continues to work on administrative changes for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that can be implemented by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, but a blueprint is unlikely until sometime in the early spring.

Freddie Mac names Aleem Gillani to its board of directors; Kroll Bond Rating Agency named an acceptable rating agency by Fannie Mae; Freddie Mac’s Home Possible program hits $50 billion milestone; Fannie Mae expects ransition to Loan Quality Connect to complete by end of March.

Blend, the Silicon Valley fintech vendor, announced Tuesday that recently departed Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos will take over as company president. Mayopoulos also will join the firm’s board.

Multifamily remained a bright spot in 2018 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and observers expect that trend to continue in the new year.

In what must come as a relief for Fannie Mae, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month ruled that the enterprise is not a credit reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).