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).

Even as the number of proposals to overhaul the nation’s housing finance system proliferates, finding an acceptable plan is become increasingly difficult. Last week, the Government Accountability Office released a report assessing 14 of the leading proposals for reforming housing finance and taking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship.

Speaking at a public forum recently, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed will continue to offload the massive $4 trillion portfolio it acquired through quantitative easing in the wake of the housing crisis.

In an about-face, the Federal Housing Finance Agency told the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals that it will no longer defend the constitutionality of its single-director leadership structureunderthe Housing and Economic Recovery Act, which created the FHFA.