Morning Bell: Toward Orderly Withdrawal
Losses are mounting. The situation shows no sign of getting better. It’s clear that U.S. government intervention has made the problem only worse. The economy has been directly affected and Americans...
View ArticleMortgage Cramdowns Will Hurt Consumers
Just as the housing market is showing definite signs that it is stabilizing after a lengthy drop in housing prices, the House of Representatives is about to vote on proposal that would destabilize it...
View ArticleMorning Bell: Time to End Fannie and Freddie
Four years after home values in America plummeted, fears over America’s housing market remain. In testimony before Congress yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited “the continuing...
View ArticleFHFA Sues Banks to Recover Housing Bond Losses: Less Than Meets the Eye?
News reports say that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will sue about 12 major banks in order to recover some of the losses that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sustained on mortgage-backed...
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Morning Bell: We Can’t Wait Either, Mr. President
Take a stroll through your neighborhood Occupy Wall Street protest–whether it’s in New York or Chicago, Detroit or San Francisco–and you’re likely to see a recurring theme emblazoned across cardboard...
View ArticleObama Cuts FHA Fees, Taxpayer Bailout Looms
President Obama has announced that he ordered the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to cut in half the fee paid by homeowners whose mortgages the agency guarantees. The good news is that this...
View ArticleTales of the Red Tape #35: Reams of Simplicity from CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a veritable wellspring of costly dictates and regulatory excess. Among the dozens of pending regulations it has concocted is a 1,099-page proposal to...
View ArticleDeMarco Signals a Better Housing Policy by Putting Taxpayers First
Ed DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), got it right by putting taxpayers’ interests ahead of the Obama Administration’s wishes. DeMarco, whose agency controls...
View ArticleWells Fargo Mortgage Suit: Using Existing Powers to Confront Housing Problems
Last week, Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, was sued by the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan for allegedly defrauding the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). This is just the latest proof...
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A Housing Finance Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
What would the potential impact on the economy be if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the housing finance government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—were eliminated? Our research indicates that winding down...
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Feds Foreclose on $2 Billion Consultants’ Bill
Photo credit: Newscom President Obama assured the nation in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday that the housing market is “healing,” although mortgage credit remains extremely tight. But that’s...
View ArticleMorning Bell: Why Should I Care About the U.S. Debt?
You’re busy. So busy you barely have time to read these words. So why should you care about the us debt? Does it affect your life? Unfortunately, high government debt is having more of an impact on...
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Another Subprime Idea from Obama
Newscom The Obama Administration is reportedly pushing banks to increase mortgage lending to people with relatively weak credit in hopes of boosting home sales. But the very same policy under...
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Housing Finance Nominee: Expect Big Government Housing Policies Doomed to Fail
Polaris/Newscom President Obama nominated Representative Mel Watt (D–NC) as new chief regulator to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), replacing the current acting director Edward DeMarco. Watt...
View ArticleMorning Bell: Time to Shrink the Monster
Does the debt ceiling affect YOU? It does—in many ways. A new video by Bankrupting America uses humor to call attention to an issue that is anything but funny, and why it matters for every American...
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Consumer “Watchdog” Tailing Consumers
Newscom Many Americans are understandably unsettled by news reports about the National Security Agency’s widespread monitoring of telephone and Internet traffic. Attracting far less attention is the...
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Morning Bell: 17 Reasons the $17 Trillion Debt Is Still a Big Deal
Remember the debt? That $17 trillion problem? Some in Washington seem to think it’s gone away. The Washington Post reported that “the national debt is no longer growing out of control.” Lawmakers and...
View ArticleU.S. Mortgage Market Reform: Corker–Warner Bill Misguided
Draft legislation by Senators Bob Corker (R–TN) and Mark Warner (D–VA) would wind down federally sponsored housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it suffers from many of the same...
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Obama: End Fannie and Freddie, but Keep Government in Housing Business
Camilla Zenz/Zuma Press/Newscom President Obama lent his voice today to the growing consensus in Washington that federally sponsored housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must go. While this is a...
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Lowering Loan Limits: An Overdue Step to Bringing Private Capital Back to...
Camilla Zenz/Zuma Press/Newscom As legislation moves through Congress to address the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has indicated it will decrease the...
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New Fannie Bond Issue Elevates Need for Higher G-Fees
Newscom As Congress contemplates legislation to end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government agency running their operations is trying to make that task easier. However, the Federal Housing Finance...
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Federal Housing Administration Is Undermining Responsible Housing Policy
Camilla Zenz/Zuma Press/Newscom The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has discrepancies in its loan portfolio that are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon and will continue to pose a burden to the...
View ArticleGSE Reform: Housing Finance Experts on the Future of Fannie and Freddie
Nearly five years after one of the largest federal government bailouts in American history and the enactment of a colossal federal regulatory law (Dodd–Frank), policy leaders still wrestle with the...
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Will the Federal Housing Finance Agency Forgive Borrowers’ Debts?
Newscom Today Representative Mel Watt (D–NC) assumes his position as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which manages the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and...
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GSE Reform: FHFA Move to Crowd Out Private Mortgage Capital
Newscom Newly appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt is delaying the scheduled increases of the guarantee fee that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge mortgage lenders. This...
View ArticleHAMP: Focusing on Mortgage Relief Programs Misses the Big Picture
The Washington Post has an article detailing the ups and downs of the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Heritage previously pointed out several flaws with HAMP, and...
View ArticleHousing Finance: Fannie–Freddie 2.0
Josh Rosner, who in Reckless Endangerment (2011) exposed the cronyism of Fannie Mae and warned of a meltdown of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) as far back as 2001, recognizes that the...
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Getting Your Neighbor’s Mortgage Off Your Lawn
Did you know you are probably responsible for your neighbors’ mortgage payments? What? Heritage expert Norbert Michel explained: Nearly all new residential mortgages are currently being guaranteed by...
View ArticleFannie-Freddie 2.0: Government Housing Polices Shouldn’t Get a Free Pass
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan lamented statistics from a Pew report showing Hispanics lost 66 percent of their net worth between 2005 and 2009. He went on to say: Think...
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