Tag Archives: Conservatorship

Swann and his team wrote in a report to clients that the impasse among lawmakers as to the future of the GSEs, the fact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been profitable since 2012, and the near recovery of most housing markets have made the privatization of the GSEs or any type of reform unlikely for the foreseeable future.

While many housing stakeholders and lawmakers agree that the conservatorship needs to end, the issue of the GSEs' future remains a source of contention. Some of the GSEs' biggest investors, such as Fairholme Funds and Pershing Square, have filed lawsuits over the sweeping of GSE profits into Treasury, which began in 2012 when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac returned to profitability.

Fairholme Funds made the request in court against the GSEs, claiming that their investor ownership stake was taken unlawfully from them by the government when the conservatorship occurred. Fairholme's efforts are a step toward getting their ownership stake returned to them.

Also in 2014, FHFA and the GSEs reviewed and made enhancements to requirements for foreclosure alternatives, forbearance plans, and rate-reset notifications. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced in July the expansion of home retention solutions for Standard and Streamlined modifications, enabling eligible borrowers with mark-to-market LTV ratios below 80 percent to obtain a loan modification.

Currently their line of credit with Treasury would provide about 5 percent capitalization and the current guarantee fee of 63 basis points would provide about 3 percent; they would need to increase their G-fees by about 27 basis points to raise the additional 2 percent capital.

Fitch Ratings affirmed that while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintained a "Stable Rating Outlook" in April due to direct financial support from the U.S. government, the ratings company said it expected the controversial FHFA's conservatorship of the two Enterprises would continue indefinitely.

Isaac and Kerrey contend that the FHFA's conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was not intended to be a long-term solution to the problem, yet the enterprises are in a "state of limbo" because no end is in sight to the conservatorship.

Speaking at the National Council of State Housing Agencies Legislative Conference on Monday, the Department of U.S. Department of Treasury Counselor to the Secretary for Housing Finance Policy Dr. Michael Stegman said that the Obama Administration is "ready, willing, and able" to talk housing finance reform, which has been a hot-button topic in recent months as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced its strategic plan for the fiscal years 2015 through 2019, reflecting the FHFA's priorities as a regulator and conservator of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as regulator of the 12 Federal Home Loan (FHL) Banks.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) submitted its 2013 Report to Congress, which detailed findings from the agency's examination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The report found that although experiencing significant exposure to credit losses from mortgage originations several years prior to the government's conservatorship, the two GSEs had record amounts of net income in 2013.