Frank Wants to Scrap Fannie, Freddie

WASHINGTON, DC-Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, who has championed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for years on the Hill, is now reversing course. According to comments he made during a hearing on Friday, Frank wants to abolish the two GSEs in their current form and develop a new system of housing finance. His comments appear to be at odds with the Treasury Department, which recently signaled it was prepared to the support the two agencies with what is effectively a blank check.

The government took control over the GSEs in 2008, when it became clear the agencies were heading for calamity. Little financial headway has been made since then. Indeed, the requests for additional aid have steadily increased; Fannie Mae alone is topping $60 billion in requests for emergency assistance. The agency’s last request for $15 billion, in fact, pushed some in the real estate industry–which relies on the GSEs for multifamily finance–to take the position that enough aid has been rendered.

There have been other proposals to rejigger the GSE model over the past 12 months, put forth by such industry groups as the Mortgage Bankers Assoc. Few of these, though, suggest outright dismantling of the agencies. More worrisome, at least to their proponents, is the fact that Frank has apparently thrown his support behind this movement.

For the moment, many are taking comfort in Frank’s steadfast commitment to affordable housing, which has been part of the GSEs’ mission.

“Given the Congressman’s long history of supporting federal efforts to make homeownership and rental housing affordable for more Americans, I don’t read his remarks as abandoning that commitment, merely as seeking a better way to implement and further that commitment,” says LaFonte Nesbitt, partner and co-chair of Holland & Knight’s Affordable Housing Team. “Like much in Washington and economic policy overall, the keys will be in the details,” he tells GlobeSt.com.

So far, details are scarce about Frank’s intentions, he says. But “given the huge presence of Fannie and Freddie in both the single-family and multifamily financing markets–and especially over the last six to 12 months–it is hard to imagine that those financing markets can continue without some kind of federally backed mortgage finance institution.”