Tag Archives: Housing Finance Reform

This week, housing finance reform is once again taking center stage as several industry stakeholders have expressed their concern about the risk to taxpayers while the GSEs remain in conservatorship of the FHFA.

Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League and former the Mayor of New Orleans, proposes some ways to close the economic gaps between races and reform the housing finance system in America.

Antonio Weiss, Counselor to the Treasury Secretary, reiterated his stance against Treasury allowing for the recapitalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and releasing them from the FHFA’s conservatorship, stating that “This approach is simply a bad deal for taxpayers and homeowners alike.”

Appearing as panelists in a discussion at the Bipartisan Policy Center this week titled "Housing Finance Reform: A Status Report," U.S. Congressmen Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) and John Delaney (D-Maryland) both agreed a major reason why such reform has not happened is because the White House has not made it a top priority.

Speaking at the National Council of State Housing Agencies Legislative Conference on Monday, the Department of U.S. Department of Treasury Counselor to the Secretary for Housing Finance Policy Dr. Michael Stegman said that the Obama Administration is "ready, willing, and able" to talk housing finance reform, which has been a hot-button topic in recent months as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Speaking as a guest presenter at the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday, Fannie Mae President and CEO Timothy Mayopoulos warned against any type of reform where housing finance is concerned, telling the audience that “the (current) system works,” according to a report from the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

In his first time to testify before Congress since he became director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in January, Mel Watt on Wednesday outlined three main objectives that make up the 2014 Conservatorship for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and discussed the agency's progress toward each in the last 10 months.