Government conservatorship of mortgage giants likely to continue, even as lawmakers call for change
Daniel Wiser
The Washington Free Beacon
11/19/2014
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt said on Wednesday that he did not see the government relinquishing control of housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac anytime soon, even as the Democratic chairman of a Senate committee urged him to pursue that course.
Watt told the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee at a hearing that “conservatorship cannot, should not be a permanent state,” but added that “it is the role of Congress to define what a future state is.” Fannie and Freddie were placed under conservatorship, or government ownership, by the FHFA in 2008 after taxpayers were forced to bail out the companies with $188 billion in the wake of the mortgage meltdown.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R., Idaho), the ranking Republican on the committee, expressed concerns that the “old failed status quo is beginning to take hold again” as Fannie and Freddie—also known as government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—continue to purchase a majority of mortgage loans in the housing market…
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