Fail to get nod for more home loans
The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rejected requests by the government-chartered companies to allow them to buy more home loans.
By TNN |
WASHINGTON: The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rejected requests by the government-chartered companies to allow them to buy more home loans and help ease a credit crunch that has frozen the US mortgage market. “We are not authorising any significant changes at this time,” the office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said. The agency “will continue to reassess that position.”
Ofheo resisted pressure from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Democratic lawmakers who said the companies should step in to fill a gap left by buyers who fled the market. Ofheo’s decision parallels the view of President Bush, who said Thursday the companies must complete a “robust reform package” before they can buy home loans beyond current federal limits. Fannie Mae requested an increase in its asset ceiling that CEO Daniel Mudd said Friday amounted to $72 billion.
Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith declined to comment on Ofheo’s decision. “We continue to believe that raising the cap would enable us to bring some much needed liquidity to the market,” said Sharon McHale, a spokeswoman for Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Ofheo imposed the limits last year after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disclosed accounting misstatements. To end the restraints, companies must complete an overhaul of accounting and governance and restore timely financial reporting, the agency said.
Ofheo resisted pressure from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Democratic lawmakers who said the companies should step in to fill a gap left by buyers who fled the market. Ofheo’s decision parallels the view of President Bush, who said Thursday the companies must complete a “robust reform package” before they can buy home loans beyond current federal limits. Fannie Mae requested an increase in its asset ceiling that CEO Daniel Mudd said Friday amounted to $72 billion.
Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith declined to comment on Ofheo’s decision. “We continue to believe that raising the cap would enable us to bring some much needed liquidity to the market,” said Sharon McHale, a spokeswoman for Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Ofheo imposed the limits last year after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disclosed accounting misstatements. To end the restraints, companies must complete an overhaul of accounting and governance and restore timely financial reporting, the agency said.
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