NAHB Sees No Fallout from Rudman Report

A longtime ally of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the National Association of Home Builders, sees nothing in the Rudman report that would justify placing portfolio limits on the two government sponsored enterprises.The report of former Senator Warren Rudman's investigation into Fannie' accounting sandal shows that new management under Fannie chief executive Daniel Mudd has taken the company in the right direction, according to NAHB executive vice president and chief executive Jerry Howard. The NAHB executive said the Rudman report does not give the Bush Administration and Senate Banking Committee chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the boost they wanted to secure passage of a Senate GSE bill with portfolio limits. "The report does not help them," he said. "We are calling with renewed vigor for enactment of the House-passed bill," Mr. Howard said. The House passed the GSE bill last fall by a 331-90 vote. But the administration and Sen. Shelby claim it is a weak bill because it does not give Fannie and Freddie's new regulator a directive to limit the GSEs' portfolios.