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 has strong support from liberals in both the House and the Senate as a longtime member of the House Financial Services Committee and advocate …
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 Presidents Clinton and Bush contributed mightily to the housing bubble that ultimately devastated millions of families in mortgage default. Credit is …
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 not too surprising considering that banks have been forced to shell out $2 billion for a government-mandated paper chase. The case in …
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 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the mortgage market would have a minimal and predictable effect on the economy. Since 2008, Fannie Mae …
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 that additional regulation of major banks’ mortgage lending is not needed. As a series of recently filed lawsuits shows, …
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 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says that the anticipated benefits of reducing loan amounts of underwater mortgages “do not outweigh the …
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 streamline the mortgage process. Yes, you read that right: 1,099 pages to “streamline” the home loan experience. And get this: …
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 reduction will save those homeowners who are able to refinance their homes about $1,000 annually. The Administration says …
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 signs: redistribute wealth from the 1 percent to the 99 percent, all in the name of fairness, whether or not …
