Time is running short for a housing-reform bill this year, the head of the Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday, adding the Senate only has about a month to act on legislation.
“We see a window closing” for a bill that would address what to do with government-owned mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae FNMA and Freddie Mac FMCC , David Stevens, who heads the trade group, told MarketWatch during a National Association for Business Economics conference.
Leaders of the Senate Banking Committee have been working on a bipartisan plan but haven’t released a proposal to date. Last week, White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling also said the clock is ticking this election year.
“I do think that most of the parties involved understand that they want to move with some speed because they don’t want to lose the window,” Sperling said. The Obama administration has been working with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, and Mike Crapo of Idaho, the panel’s top Republican, on their bill. It’s expected to replace Fannie and Freddie with a new agency.
Stevens put a finer point on it: “I think [in] 30 days we need to see something introduced in the Senate or the window begins closing very rapidly,” he said.
Stevens’s group includes big companies including Wells Fargo and Bank of America, as well as smaller banks and servicers.
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