NAHB Reviewing GSE Strategy

The National Association of Home Builders is reviewing its legislative strategy regarding tougher regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and expects to decide on any changes in early December, according to the association's top executive."We could be staying where we were during the last legislative debate, or do something radically different," NAHB executive director Jerry Howard told MortgageWire. In April, the NAHB opposed a Senate Banking Committee bill that would have created a new government-sponsored enterprise regulator with receivership powers and approval authority over new GSE products. Early next year, "there is going to be extreme pressure on Congress to come up with a [GSE] regulatory reform bill," Mr. Howard said. "And we've got to be prepared for that." One of Fannie Mae's staunchest allies, the homebuilders began a review of their GSE policies after the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight exposed accounting problems at Fannie. The NAHB can be found online at http://www.nahb.com.