The Federal Housing Finance Agency today released a progress report on its goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the GSEs are in federal conservatorship. The report covers FHFA’s goals for the GSEs to maintain access to credit and help prevent foreclosures, reduce credit risk and build a common securitization platform that issues a single security.
To improve credit access, the agencies have taken steps to address impediments to borrowers who owe significant student debt, require down payment assistance, lack a traditional credit history or have low household income. They also issued a request for information to gather feedback on whether and how to update Fannie and Freddie’s current credit score requirements. The GSEs are also offering a new refinancing product for borrowers with high LTV loans, and extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program through December 2018, among other things.
In addition, Fannie and Freddie maintained their risk transfer programs to reduce overall taxpayer liability, and both met their goals for transferring credit risk for single-family mortgage loans. As reported in ABA Daily Newsbytes yesterday, the GSEs announced that the new common single security they have been developing will be implemented on June 3, 2019.
