FHFA

It's a critical time in Washington, with many key institutions in the mortgage and housing industries getting new leaders. At the Mortgage Bankers Association, there's a renewed focus on maintaining effective influence with decision makers on initiatives like housing finance reform, innovation and the evolving needs of home buyers.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued new capital requirements for private mortgage insurers that will create big swings in carriers' asset reserves.

In a surreal echo of the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt and an employee he is accused of harassing, Simone Grimes, testified before a House panel about the allegations.

As the House Financial Services Committee prepares to hold a hearing Thursday on oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the exact focus of the hearing remains somewhat in flux.

The CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are stepping down because the job they were hired to do — return the GSEs to profitability — is done. But attracting top-flight candidates to lead the mortgage giants into a new phase may not be easy.

A decade after the credit crisis, investors are returning to where it all began. The mortgage sector, blamed in large part for the near-collapse of the global financial system, is now seen by many as a high-quality market forged by fire.

The agency’s director has been under pressure to quit as he is investigated for sexual harassment allegations, but an agency spokesperson says he still plans to testify at a housing finance hearing slated for later this month.

The federal conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was never supposed to be permanent. Leaving the situation unresolved keeps the agencies undercapitalized and taxpayers exposed to their risk.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a proposal Wednesday that would require mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to align their policies on cash flows for current mortgage-backed securities, and eventually for a uniform security when it is implemented next year.

The proposal by Reps. Jeb Hensarling and John Delaney is a sign that a bipartisan consensus is building on how to move on from Fannie and Freddie.