The Federal Housing Finance Agency has taken a lot of heat lately for not doing enough to get the U.S. housing market back on track. In a taped interview set to air Sunday, the FHFA?s acting director Edward DeMarco defended the choices his agency has made in recent months.
Some of the criticism leveled at DeMarco is that FHFA has been too conservative in what it has allowed mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to do during this credit crunch. Yet DeMarco feels his agency has acted within the bounds set for them.
?Some of those things that are being advocated for us to do really go beyond what Congress has given us the authority to do,? said Mr. DeMarco in an appearance for C-SPAN?s ?Newsmakers? as reported in a Wall Street Journal article.
Fannie and Freddie came under government conservatorship in September 2008 after they almost failed, and the FHFA is the current regulator of the two mortgage behemoths. DeMarco has been known for keeping a tight reign on any risky investments or policies for Fannie and Freddie, as the two companies have already cost taxpayers $141 billion since being taken over.
Many Democratic congressmen and some in the Obama administration have complained that the agency should be expanding its role, forcing lenders to reduce loan balances for underwater homeowners. DeMarco responsed that
?The funds that have been made available?were not provided for that kind of broad relief purpose,? he said.
In fact, DeMarco hurled his own criticism back at Congress for not coming up with a more specific plan for Fannie and Freddie?s future.
?Conservatorship is really not meant to be a long term solution, and the longer conservatorship goes on, it does become pretty challenging to make decisions about long-term investments that companies are supposed to make,? he said.
Amber Nelson on October 31st 2011 in Mortgage Credit News, Mortgage News
Ads By Google
Leave a Reply
Source: http://blog.mortgage101.com/2011/10/31/housing-finance-director-defends-agency-actions/
kroy biermann apple update apple update download ios 5 pokey find my mac gumby
No comments:
Post a Comment