The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged Fannie Mae

On the Future of Fannie and Freddie

By | 08.17.10 | 9:15 am

Today, I’ll be covering a Treasury Department conference on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that provide liquidity to the mortgage market and have required $150 billion in a taxpayer bailout so far.

Reform will prove difficult and will happen slowly because Fannie and More…

Conyers, Kaptur Bash Fannie for Penalizing Strategic Defaulters

By | 08.13.10 | 5:12 pm

This week, Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Edward DeMarco, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, asking them to justify Fannie Mae’s policy of penalizing or suing strategic defaulters — those who can pay their More…

What To Do With Fannie and Freddie

By | 08.12.10 | 11:22 am

Washington is quiet, but that does not mean it is dormant. Staffers on the Hill and in the Treasury Department are working on a plan to restore normalcy to the mortgage market and to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that buy up mortgages from More…

House Ethics Committee Releases Details on Charges Against Waters

By | 08.09.10 | 3:48 pm

Today, the House Ethics Committee released a number of documents related to the three charges against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), accused of working to further a Treasury bailout for a bank with ties to her husband.

Fannie, Freddie Post New Losses; Bailout Tops $150 Billion

By | 08.09.10 | 12:55 pm

Last week, Fannie Mae announced it lost $1.2 billion in the second quarter and asked the Treasury Department for an additional $1.5 billion to see it through.

Cramdown Coming?

By | 08.05.10 | 4:00 pm

The Home Affordable Modification Program — designed to reduce homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments and to keep them in their homes — has been an abysmal failure. Back in January, my colleague Mary Kane reported that the program showed signs of falling far short of its goals. It has continued More…

The Return of the $1,000 Down Mortgage

By | 08.05.10 | 6:00 am

“Buy new with $1,000 down,” the advertisement says, the words resting atop a trim green clapboard house offset by a bright blue sky. “The time has come. Stop wasting rent check after rent check and start building equity in your own home. And with only $1,000 down, affordable monthly payments More…

Waters Faces Ethics Trial Over Bank Bailout

By | 08.02.10 | 8:59 am

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) will face a House ethics trial over allegations that she intervened to encourage the bailout of a bank her husband owned stock in. Waters sits on the House Financial Services Committee, and is the head of its housing and community opportunity subcommittee.

The More…

Obama Team Promises Housing Finance Reform Proposal by January

By | 07.27.10 | 1:04 pm

Despite Republican objections, congressional Democrats did not include reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or of the broader mortgage market in the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform bill — now law. The administration has promised comprehensive reform but thus far has not named any objectives, costs More…

Did Undocumented Immigrants Commit Two-Thirds of Mortgage Fraud During the Housing Bubble?

By | 07.23.10 | 4:19 pm

No. But the idea is out there. Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) has proposed requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to verify that everyone receiving a home loan backed by them is of legal status. On the site America Speaking Out, where House Republicans lets users submit and vote on More…