HUD to Release More 'Proprietary' GSE Data

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can expect to see more of their mortgage data that were previously classified as proprietary released to the public under a final rule issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.The final rule clarifies the HUD secretary's discretion to reclassify proprietary information collected from the two government-sponsored enterprises and make it publicly available. "This should promote some additional transparency in the information about GSE housing-mission-related activities," said Allen Fishbein, director of housing and credit policy at the Consumer Federation of America. Fannie and Freddie raised objections to the initial proposal. But HUD made some changes to the review process. "We now have what we think is an open process for determining what kind of data will or will not be released," said Freddie Mac spokeswoman Sharon McHale.