Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

ederal Housing Finance Agency seal in downtown with closeup of sign and logo

‘Renters Bill of Rights’ One Step Closer to Reality

The Biden administration could strengthen tenant protections on a national scale by leveraging federally backed mortgages to mandate rent stabilization and bar discrimination in rental housing.

November 22, 2023 - Truthout

Home Sold Sign

Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae to Back $1 Million Mortgages

Expensive housing markets are about to cross a symbolic threshold.

November 30, 2022 - The Wall Street Journal

Aerial views during an Army search and rescue mission show damage from Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast, Oct. 30, 2012.

The 30-Year Mortgage Faces an Unprecedented Threat: Climate Change

The climate crisis will present more of an existential crisis to the traditional U.S. mortgage market than any previous financial crisis, according to some of the experts cited in the article.

June 23, 2020 - The New York Times

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Federal Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium Extended Until the End of August

Breaking news: a federal moratorium on evictions and foreclosures of single-family mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be extended until at least the end of August. The moratorium had been set to expire at the end of June.

June 17, 2020 - Federal Housing Finance Agency

Trump Sign

Malign Neglect? Urban Policy in the Trump Era

How much do we have to fear from the president-elect's policy plans for urban America? We can hope that he will follow his party's playbook and largely ignore the cities, but potential changes to housing policy are more serious.

December 1, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Critiquing the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Policy on Loan Put-Backs

Laurie Goodman and Jun Zhu explain the complicated but critical controversy over the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) recent policy for sunsets on loan put-backs. At stake: the ongoing constraints on lending in the United States.

October 14, 2014 - Housing Wire

What to Expect from the New "Most Powerful Man in Housing"

After a protracted fight, the Senate has finally confirmed Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What direction will he steer the United States' housing finance system?

December 11, 2013 - The Washington Post

Obama Announces Housing Market Reforms, But for Some He Missed the Mark

In a speech yesterday, President Obama announced his long-awaited proposals for reforming America's housing and mortgage markets in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Observers criticized his mixed message on renting and homeownership.

August 7, 2013 - The New York Times

Can the U.S. Government Extricate Itself from the Mortgage Market?

Although the Obama Administration has supported a reduced role for the government in supporting the housing market, it still backs 90 percent of newly issued mortgages - "more than ever before." A new report examines the prospect of a withdrawal.

March 1, 2013 - The New York Times

Can Obama Cure America's Housing Headache?

A series of seemingly intractable obstacles stand in the way of transforming the housing and mortgage markets to reduce government involvement. Peter Eavis asks if a second term president is exactly the force needed to overcome such obstacles.

November 9, 2012 - The New York Times

Kill Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Scholars at the American Enterprise Institute think that the government should get out of housing finance because it has competing, irreconcilable goals when it comes to financing homes.

March 28, 2011 - The Atlantic

Obama Administration Rethinks Home Ownership

It started with the popular desire to dissolve what some consider to be the cause of the 2008 melt-down - Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and has spread to rethinking the tax write-off of home ownership - a clearly unpopular notion for many.

February 14, 2011 - The New York Times - Business Day

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