Dear MBA Member:

Today, MBA led a coalition of 28 housing and real estate stakeholders in a letter to Joseph Otting, Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), laying out key objectives and principles that we believe FHFA should bear in mind as it considers administrative policy reforms that could impact the role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) play in the housing market.

The two key objectives we outline – preserving what works in the current system and maintaining stability in the secondary mortgage market – have been at the core of MBA’s thinking on GSE reform for more than a decade.   Likewise, the principles we lay out are consistent with those developed by several task forces that MBA has convened in recent years to look at a variety of aspects related to the future of the GSEs and the secondary mortgage market.

Finally, as we make clear in the letter, the steps that FHFA may take administratively should not preclude Congressional action on housing finance reform.  Only through legislative action can policymakers make the structural changes necessary to ensure long-term safety and soundness and provide the certainty necessary for private capital to establish a more reliable presence in housing finance.

If you have any questions about our letter, or MBA’s efforts around housing finance reform, please do not hesitate to contact me.     

Bob Broeksmit, CMB
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mortgage Bankers Association