HUD: Nothing 'Suspicious' So Far on Swaps

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has yet to find anything "suspicious" in regard to three large GSE affordable housing multifamily loan swaps that the agency is reviewing, Assistant Housing Secretary John Weicher said Monday.HUD is reviewing two affordable housing multifamily swaps that Freddie Mac entered into -- one with Washington Mutual, another with Citigroup. The agency is also reviewing a swap that Fannie Mae did with WaMu. All three deals range in size from $5 billion to $8 billion, said Mr. Weicher, and count toward the affordable housing goals of the two government-sponsored enterprises. Recently, Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, sent letters to Fannie and Freddie requesting detailed information about the swaps. The swaps, which occurred late in the year, are under scrutiny because the lenders were given lucrative financial incentives to sell the loans in the first place. Both companies are cooperating with HUD in regard to the probe.