GSE reform

Despite a direct request by six Democratic senators that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be allowed to rebuild capital, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did little to clarify the administration's thinking.

As expected, President Trump has nominated Brian Montgomery to serve as the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration.

Former Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer will join securitization pioneer Lewis Ranieri at a new housing policy team at the Milken Institute.

The gulf between those at the upper ends of the wealth ladder and lower-income Americans has worsened markedly since the financial crisis, despite the trillions of subsidies that taxpayers provide for housing.

Dividend payments by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are due to come one day after the U.S. is estimated to hit the debt ceiling, raising the stakes in the debate over whether those payments should continue.

FHFA Director Mel Watt said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cannot use alternative credit models until other issues are resolved first.

A bipartisan duo of lawmakers is set Tuesday to introduce a bill designed to increase homeownership opportunities for “credit invisible” consumers.

Shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say a trove of documents they have obtained bolsters their case that the government lied when it decided to take all of the mortgage companies’ profits.

Policymakers should differentiate between housing finance-related issues of real importance to the greater public interest, and those that concern only special interests.

From the small lender’s perspective, most of the various GSE reform proposals that have been offered are designed to advance the interests of the big banks.