Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

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What We’re Hearing: The Task Ahead for Ed DeMarco

A New Front in GSE Reform

Congress Now Deemed Totally Hopeless When it Comes Fixing the Nation’s Housing Finance System

IMFnews Friday, Jul 27, 2018

By Paul Muolo [e-mail]



Ed DeMarco, the former GSE regulator who helped steady Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier in the decade, has a new mission: Managing a new era at the Housing Policy Council, which is in the process of being spun off by parent trade group Financial Services Roundtable. For DeMarco, president of the HPC, and his number-two, Meg Burns, the future of the HPC will rely on two things: the ability of the group to garner financial commitments from members and convince those dues-paying entities the organization is a player in housing-finance reform…

HPC’s spin off comes as the debate surrounding GSE reform moves to a new arena. Other trade organizations believe the impetus for change will come from the Trump administration, namely the Treasury Department, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development…

As one housing lobbyist told IMFnews Friday: “The legislative side of this is over. We’re all now looking at the administrative options.” In other words, look for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to fashion some type of GSE blueprint while working in tandem with the FHFA and Ginnie Mae executive Michael Bright…

One mortgage insurance consultant characterized HPC’s influence in Washington this way: “They’ve been good on the regulatory issues, but not so much when it comes to Fannie and Freddie…”

This past spring, the Inside Mortgage Finance family of publications published a handful of stories quoting industry lobbyists who predicted that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, would finally release his long-awaited GSE reform bill. The legislation never saw the light of day. However, Hensarling told Politico late this week he plans to introduce his housing-finance reform bill in the fall. Better late than never…

As for what might be in the Hensarling bill, the conservative from the Lone Star state wasn’t offering…


MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Wells Fargo named Jeff Smith “head” of “home lending servicing.” A Wells spokesman told IMFnews Smith is currently a senior vice president at the bank, but “his new title is awaiting board approval.” (Unlike some publications, IMFnews does not recognize “head” as a job title unless it’s actually on that person’s business card.) According to a company statement, Smith is currently “responsible for servicing and customer service excellence risk.” He succeeds Perry Hilzendeger, who “was named in March to run the company’s home lending and retail operations.” The Wells press release did not identify Hilzendeger’s exact title.