Free Republic

Let's collaboratively build a timeline of this disaster, starting with when these agencies were formed, tracking the legislation that was not only passed, but proposed, and quotes from who supported and opposed it. PLEASE INCLUDE URLs so we can link to sources. Here's a start. 1938 Fannie Mae, or the Federal National Mortgage Association, was founded in 1938. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode12/usc_sup_01_12_10_13_20_III.html 1954 1954 Charter Act 1968 1968 Charter Act 1970 Freddie Mac, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, was established in 1970 1989 Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 1990, James A. Johnson went to work for Fannie...

Extortion: After 16 banks caved in to White House demands to refund billions in losses to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, one outlier remains unrepentant. Nomura Holdings refuses to succumb to the political shakedown. The Japanese bank's U.S. unit won't give in to extortionist regulators protecting Fannie/Freddie who claim it hoodwinked the toxic twins into buying pools of subprime mortgages, like it claimed Bank of America, JPMorgan and other U.S. banks did in the run-up to the mortgage crisis. The government demands $1 billion in damages. Nomura says it won't give a dime toward the $18 billion ransom the feds...

At a breakout session during the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, one of us posed a question to the audience: What do members of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street have in common?Hint: it has something to do with the 2008 bailout of private banks by American taxpayers. The insidious stink from that sorry episode lingers to this day—on both parties. Now the reasons for outrage over the bailouts were different for each group. For the Tea Partiers it was an unwarranted intrusion into the free market; for the Occupiers a taxpayer-financed gift to wealthy executives they believe caused...

WASHINGTON — Mortgages with low down payments can be just as safe if other underwriting conditions are met, a federal housing regulator said Tuesday. Mel Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee, after Fannie Mae FNMA, +0.47% and Freddie Mac FMCC, +0.47% both started making mortgages available to those who make down payments of just 3%. That has raised the ire of Republicans, who say the move risks a repeat of the housing bubble. “All things being equal, is a 3% down loan riskier to the taxpayer than...

Subprime Scandal: We've long suspected the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission wasn't honest in examining events before the meltdown. But an ex-commissioner says the probe was actually a full-blown political cover-up. In a just-released book, former FCIC member Peter Wallison says that a Democratic Congress worked with the commission's Democratic chairman to whitewash the government's central role in the mortgage debacle. The conspiracy helped protect some of the Democrats' biggest stars from scrutiny and accountability while helping justify the biggest government takeover of the financial sector since the New Deal. Wallison's sobering, trenchantly written "Hidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused...

The chants cut through the warm, humid air like an approaching cold front, prompting drivers to crane their necks and pedestrians to stop in their tracks on the sidewalk outside the U.S. Post Office on Liberty Street. "No justice, no peace, no more people in the streets." "What do we do when banks attack? Stand up, fight back." The protesters' numbers were few – less than 20 – but the collective voice of Springfield No One Leaves was mighty as the group took aim at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the beleaguered government-sponsored mortgage enterprises bailed out by taxpayers, and...

The Chinese “received a message from the Russians” back in 2008 suggesting a pact to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities on the market, which would have nudged down the price of the debt of Fannie and Freddie and also maximized the chaos on Wall Street, a former U.S. official told BBC. It confirms a report that TheBlaze TV’s For the Record first aired back in September 2013.

It could be the end for bailed-out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as we know them, if recent bipartisan support for their elimination means anything. U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, unveiled a proposed agreement with ranking member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) on Tuesday that would wind down the government-sponsored enterprises over the course of 5 years. The legislation builds on an earlier bill by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mark Warner (D-VA) which would replace the two companies — long a linchpin of the U.S. mortgage-finance system and locus of voter anger...

full title...LETTER: Ralph Nader questions Obama administration’s ‘legal authority’ to shut out Fannie and Freddie shareholders from future profits....Political activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader is questioning the “legal authority” of the Obama administration’s secret decision to prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders from obtaining any future earnings in the government sponsored enterprises (GSE). Nader slammed the administration’s actions in a letter he sent to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, which was obtained by The Daily Caller. The administration’s decision to shut out shareholders means that the mortgage-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which received a $189.5...

Try as I might, I cannot rule out the possibility that the Democratic Party is some sort of elaborate performance art piece. One of those subversive ones where the real point is not the performance itself, but the reaction drawn from an unsuspecting audience. There was a cocktail party where the artist explained his vision, but we squares who are part of the patriarchal consumer culture weren’t invited. They are just seeing how far they can push this thing before we catch on. That must be it. There can be no other acceptable explanation for the straight-faced rationalizations many of...

Five years have passed since the onset of what is sometimes called the Great Recession. While the economy has slowly improved, there are still millions of Americans leading lives of quiet desperation: without jobs, without resources, without hope. Who was to blame? Was it simply a result of negligence, of the kind of inordinate risk-taking commonly called a “bubble,” of an imprudent but innocent failure to maintain adequate reserves for a rainy day? Or was it the result, at least in part, of fraudulent practices, of dubious mortgages portrayed as sound risks and packaged into ever more esoteric financial instruments,...

Mel Watt was sworn into a top housing finance post Monday afternoon while simultaneously bringing to an end a career in Congress spanning more than two decades. The now-former representative from North Carolina was given the oath to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency by former Charlotte mayor and current Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. Watt’s path to his new position was cleared last month after a drawn-out debate that included a controversial rule change allowing him to be confirmed with a 57-41 Senate vote. …

Congressional Democrats are reeling from Obamacare, Republicans are caving-in to President Obama’s budgetary demands, and the First Lady is emotionally wounded because of her husband’s flirtatious behavior in South Africa. That’s the sum total of activity in Washington, DC here at year’s end – right? Not quite. Lurking quietly in the halls of the U.S. Senate is, apparently, growing bi-partisan support for legislation that is supposed to “reform” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yet some fear that the “Corker-Warner bill” – named for Senator John Corker (R-TN) and Senator Mark Warner (R-VA) could threaten the very existence of the 30-year...

Today, FHFA directed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to raise guarantee fees in three components: • The base g-fee (or ongoing g-fee) for all mortgages will increase by 10 basis points; • The up-front g-fee grid will be updated to better align pricing with the credit risk characteristics of the borrower; and • The up-front 25 basis point adverse market fee that has been assessed on all mortgages purchased by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae since 2008 is being eliminated except in the four states whose foreclosure carrying costs are more than two standard deviations greater than the national average....

There was a tremendous panel discussion today in the U.S. Senate hosted by the Federalist Society. The discussion concerned the proposed Corker-Warner bill to “reform” the housing finance system. The moderator was Troy Paredes and the speakers included Ronald Case, Bernard Weinstein and myself. Going forward, what should happen to the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Weinstein argued that they should be kept in place, but regulated to avoid Congress from forcing them to take on too much risk. Case gave an eloquent discussion of the necessity for the rule of law in whatever happens going forward. What...

Bank of America has agreed to pay Freddie Mac $404 million in a mortgage settlement over 716,000 loans, many purchased from Countrywide. This is one of many lawsuits by the Federal government over Countrywide and related mortgages. One wonders when the litigation will end. Here is the thing. These suits are largely about representations and warranties between the loan seller and the loan purchaser concerning underwriting standards. The reps and warranties provide relief to the loan purchaser if the underwriting of the loans by the loan seller proves to be misleading or false. But there is another issue called causality....

The Senate will likely take up the confirmation of Mel Watt (D-NC) as Director of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Now that Harry Reid (D-NV) triggered the nuclear option allowing Democrats to use simple majority voting on most appointments, it is likely that Watt, who has no regulatory experience, will be confirmed as FHFA Director. What has Ed DeMarco accomplished as a regulator? Many things including, • Significant progress has been made on the development and initial testing of the Common Securitization Platform (CSP); however challenges, including necessary changes to Fannie Mae’s...

There are a plethora of housing finance bills being written or circulating. These include the deeply flawed Corker-Warner bill, the Crapo-Johnson bill (that I have not seen), the PATH Act from the House. Now we have another House GSE reform bill, The New Fair Deal Banking And Housing Stability Act of 2013, from Representatives Justin Amash (sponsor), Jeff Duncan, Jim Jordan, Doug Lamborn, Tom McClintock, Mark Meadows, Tom Price and Matt Salmon. The New Fair Deal Banking and Housing Stability Act of 2013 takes decisive action to end the cycle of booms and busts, of bad behavior and bailouts: -...

As many are painfully aware, the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapsed in price from Q4 2007 to Q4 2008. Fannie Mae stock was trading at $60.81 on September 28, 2007 and fell to $1.71 by September 30, 2008. That is quite a drop. But Fannie Mae’s equity is now at $2.73 while Freddie Mac’s is at $2.52 per share. Both started showing signs of life in March 2013, spiked on May 28th, fell again, but has regained upward momentum since September. Who is in the running to purchase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and provide private market...

Today, the US Senate held a hearing on “Housing Finance Reform: Powers and Structure of a Strong Regulator.” If I had been testifying, I would have thrown in a Medal of Freddom for Edward DeMarco, the acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But alas, the panel that spoke today were largely regulators and/or attorneys. But the most interesting aspect of the hearing was what happened AFTER the hearing. Tim Pagliara, the CEO of CapWealth Advisors and longtime fundraiser/donor for US Sen. Bob Corker (of the infamous Corker-Warner housing reform...