The Urban Institute says mortgage servicing compensation has been largely overlooked in the debate over housing-finance reform even though it plays a critical role.
Moody's and Fitch say there is a possibility that Fannie's and Freddie's ratings could be downgraded if government support for the two mortgage giants is reduced through housing-finance reform.
There was a lot of kumbaya among industry experts last week during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ two days of hearings on the housing-finance reform outlined last month by panel Chairman Mike Crapo, R-ID.
Last week, Joseph Otting, the then-acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, set the GSE rumor mills churning when he told an audience at George Mason University Law School that the agency would finish work this summer on the final capital rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Democrats have begun to respond to last week’s Trump administration memorandum, which directed the Secretary of the Treasury to coordinate with the Federal Housing Finance Agency and other executive branch departments to develop a plan to end the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In a straight, party-line vote, the Senate Thursday confirmed conservative economist Mark Calabria to be the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The Senate Banking Committee late Tuesday announced it will hold a pair of long rumored hearings next week to discuss the housing-reform outline released last month by Chairman Mike Crapo, R-ID. The hearings, which have been rumored for weeks, are scheduled for March 26 and March 27.
The general consensus was that Mark Calabria would be easily confirmed as FHFA director. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when his nomination passed out of the committee last week on a 13- to-12, straight party-line vote.
A working paper released by the National Association of Realtors at a conference in Washington, DC, this month makes a persuasive case that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be restructured as strictly regulated, shareholder-owned utilities. Perhaps more important, the paper establishes an effective format for evaluating other proposals for GSE reform.
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