Coalition Idea: Use GSEs to Provide Warehouse Lending?

A coalition of mortgage lenders led by a former Fannie Mae official and two other industry veterans, may lobby elected officials and regulators to allow Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank system to provide warehouse financing to non-banks, MortgageWire has learned. Glen S. Corso, a former executive at PMI Group of Walnut Creek, Calif., said having the GSEs provide warehouse financing is just one of many ideas the group is kicking around. Currently, the warehouse lending arena is dominated by commercial banks, but there are major capacity issues regarding warehouse financing because of all the lenders that have left the sector. Mr. Corso is heading a group called the 'Warehouse Lending Project' along with Bob Englestad, a former Fannie Mae official, and Pete Mills, who was once the top Washington lobbyist for Countrywide Home Loans. Mr. Corso said 50 non-bank mortgage lenders are part of the coalition. (For the full story see the Monday edition of National Mortgage News.)