FHFA

A Queens, N.Y., man who helped defraud mortgage lending units at Bank of America, Chase Bank and AmTrust is now facing 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

The housing finance agency, which is increasingly at the forefront of reform discussions, has been without a permanent chief for almost two years.

Donald Layton, who has run the mortgage giant since 2012, discussed the busy agenda leading up to his departure and says Freddie can serve as a "technical adviser" in GSE reform talks.

The departing CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac oversaw significant cultural and operational shifts that made the housing finance system safer and more responsive to market needs, but a tough job lies ahead for their successors.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have launched an online clearinghouse with resources to assist lenders in serving borrowers with limited English proficiency.

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.