Newsroom

March 27, 2014

Waters' reform would unwind GSEs

March 28, 2014 – House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has released her own housing finance reform blueprint on the heels of another discussion draft recently put out by Senate Banking Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

Waters' plan would replace the government-sponsored agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a new lender cooperative that would issue government-backed securities eligible for a federal government guarantee. It would also establish a new regulator – the National Mortgage Finance Administration – which would oversee Federal Home Loan Banks and establish a Mortgage Insurance Fund to provide a federal guarantee for mortgages that meet certain criteria.

The House Financial Services Committee has already taken up and passed House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling's, R-Texas, comprehensive GSE reform bill – the "Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act," H.R. 2767.

NAFCU continues to meet with key Congressional aides on both sides of the aisle to ensure credit unions' access to the secondary mortgage market and fair pricing based on loan quality are included in any proposal put forward. NAFCU has also been in close contact with the White House and various administration officials.