OFHEO Urged to Get Tough With GSEs

The Consumer Mortgage Coalition is urging the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to get tough with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by clamping down on activities that violate their government charters.In a comment letter on OFHEO's strategic plan, the CMC notes that OFHEO has cease-and-desist powers, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development lacks, to stop the two government-sponsored enterprises from engaging in unauthorized activities. "We respectfully urge that OFHEO use its strategic plan to clarify that it has and will use these very important powers," CMC executive director Anne Canfield says in the May 2 comment letter. The CMC also wants OFHEO to set up an ombudsman shop to handle industry complaints about the GSEs' activities. "OFHEO could conduct its own inquiry through the examination process, and could reach a determination whether a GSE were engaging in programs without first obtaining HUD approval, in violation of its charter act," the CMC says.