Freddie Mac

Last week the Department of the Treasury and HUD sent their Housing Finance Reform Plans to President Trump following his March Memorandum, which ordered the reports. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing on Housing Finance Reform: Next Steps with HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and FHFA Director Mark Calabria as witnesses.

The National Housing Conference (NHC) released a new white paper on housing finance reform that calls for bipartisan cooperation between Congress and the Trump administration to complete housing finance reform leading to the release of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship. he paper establishes seven conditions to guide administrative and statutory reform to ensure that the U.S. will have a well-functioning housing finance system that provides consistent, affordable credit to borrowers across the nation and through all parts of the credit cycle, while minimizing the risk of another taxpayer-funded bailout.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University released a new paper GSE Reform: None or Mostly Done? Author Don Layton argue that while Congress has yet to pass comprehensive reform of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), almost all of the major flaws of the pre-conservatorship GSEs have been successfully addressed while the companies have been in conservatorship.

Freddie Mac Multifamily announced four vice presidents: Geri Borger Urgo is now vice president, production & sales, overseeing the Southeast and Northeast regions. Michael Case is now vice president, multifamily capital markets, overseeing all multifamily loan pricing functions. Catherine Evans is now vice president, Small Balance Loan (SBL) underwriting, overseeing the SBL underwriting team. Amanda Nunnink is now vice president, Multifamily investor relations, leading the team that markets the multifamily securities platform. 

Chairman David Perdue (R-GA) and Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-NJ) of the Senate Banking subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development Subcommittee introduced S.1463, a bill to establish a scorekeeping rule to ensure that increases in guarantee fees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shall not be used to offset provisions that increase the deficit.

This American Banker article explores the remarks from President Trump at the recent National Association of Realtors event. “This is a pretty urgent problem.  We’re doing well with it now… We have many geniuses looking at it and we’ll figure something out.”

At the Mortgage Bankers Association conference, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Dr. Mark Calabria said “ while I’m committed to working with Congress, I’m not going to wait on Congress.”

RED Mortgage Capital announced the closing of a $60 million, 18 property portfolio in Union City, NJ through the Freddie Mac OptigoSM Small Balance Loan (SBL) program. The financing was for the acquisition of the multifamily properties, which include 481 units of affordable housing.

RED Mortgage Capital announced the hire of D. Edward Greene as Chief Underwriter for Affordable Housing. Greene joins RED from Freddie Mac, where he most recently served as Senior Managing Director of Underwriting and Credit. In that role, Greene focused on Freddie Mac’s Targeted Affordable Housing and Specialty Products. 

The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, of which NH&RA is a member, sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Dr. Mark Calabria to welcome him to his new role and thank him for his comments during the confirmation process on promoting access to affordable housing, retaining the Government Sponsored Enterprises’ (GSE) […]

On April 4, 2019 the Senate voted 52-44 to confirm Mark Calabria as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the authorization of disbursements from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) and Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). The NHTF will receive $244.86 million and the CMF will receive 131.84 million.

On March 26 and 27 the full Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held hearing on Chairman Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) Housing Finance Reform Outline. At the March 26 hearing Chairman Crapo said he wants to “bring to a close the conservatorship era.” Former Acting FHFA Director Edward DeMarco stated that “the outline captures the consensus elements of prior reform proposals and serves as a solid workable foundation from which to develop legislation.” At the March 27 hearing Chairman Crapo said he “considers Housing Finance Reform to be a top priority for the Banking Committee this Congress” and that “the status quo is simply not a valid viable option.”