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FHFA Director Testifies Before Senate Banking Committee, Provides Overview of Housing Finance System and Prospects for Reform
On May 11, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing at which FHFA Director Mel Watt fielded questions from lawmakers about the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) and prospects for housing finance reform. In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) noted that Fannie and Freddie have been in conservatorship for close to nine years, and stated that “a housing finance system dependent on two government sponsored enterprises in perpetual conservatorship is not a sustainable solution.” According to Sen. Crapo, because approximately 70 percent of mortgages are backed by the federal government, “if the housing market experiences a downturn, taxpayers could again be on the hook for billions of dollars.” Ultimately, the Chairman set forth his position that housing finance reform should be considered the “most significant piece of unfinished business following the financial crisis.”
Meanwhile, FHFA Director Watt testified that, under his leadership, FHFA has “responsibly balanced” and met its “multiple statutory mandates to manage the Enterprises’ day-to-day operations.” He also identified some of the key changes and reforms that have taken place during the conservatorships, including: (i) requiring the Enterprises to emphasize sound underwriting practices in their purchase guidelines; (ii) reducing the Enterprises’ retained portfolios by over sixty percent since 2009; and (iii) developing effective loss mitigation programs, which include aligning the Enterprises’ loss mitigation standards and developing updated loan modification and streamlined refinance products to follow the Home Affordable Modification Program and the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
Director Watt also acknowledged that “FHFA knows probably better than anyone that these conservatorships are not sustainable” and urged Congress to act on several issues related to housing finance reform, including:
- developing a transition process to a new housing finance system to avoid disruption to the housing finance market;
- determining whether the federal government should provide taxpayer backing for the conservatorship, and if so, in what form;
- addressing the role the Enterprises might play in the reformed housing finance system and what statutory changes to their organizational structures, purposes, ownership and operations will be needed to ensure that they play their assigned roles effectively; and
- identifying what regulatory and supervisory structure and authorities will be needed in a reformed system, and who will have responsibility to exercise those authorities.
Furthermore, Director Watt noted that under the provisions of the Enterprises’ Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, on January 1, 2018 the $1.2 billion buffer protecting the Enterprises against having to make additional draws of taxpayer support in the event of an operating loss in any quarter would be reduced to zero, at which time “neither Enterprise will have the ability to weather any loss it experiences in any quarter without drawing further on taxpayer support.” Director Watt warned that such a situation could erode investor confidence and “stifle liquidity in ways that could increase the cost of mortgage credit to borrowers.” Accordingly, the Director argued that the Enterprises “need some kind of [capital] buffer to shield against short-term operating losses” that could “result in an additional draw of taxpayer support and reduce the fixed dollar commitment Treasury has made to support the Enterprises.”
Reaction of Industry Organizations. In a statement issued shortly after the hearing, Camden R. Fine, President and CEO of Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), expressed support for Director Watt after his testimony, agreeing about the need for Fannie and Freddie “to retain their earnings and to start rebuilding their capital buffers.” Meanwhile, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) financial policy expert John Berlau was critical of what he called “an unfair, ongoing government policy of confiscating all Fannie/Freddie shareholder profits.” According to Mr. Berlau, the Enterprises’ “perilous financial state is the direct result of the Obama administration’s 2012‘Third Amendment’ policy, which confiscates all of Fannie and Freddie’s profits for the US Treasury.” He argued that curtailing this policy would allow the Enterprises to “retain some earnings and build capital to spare taxpayers another bailout.”
FHFA Director Appeared Before the Senate Banking Committee on May 11; Discussed Fannie/Freddie, Proposed "Underserved Markets Plans"
On May 11, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs met in open session at 10:00 a.m. to discuss “The Status of the Housing Finance System After Nine Years of Conservatorship.” Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt was the only witness scheduled to testify.
The hearing comes after Fannie Mae (Fannie) and Freddie Mac (Freddie) published their first quarter financial reports. On May 2, Freddie announced $2.2 billion in net income in the first quarter—all of which Freddie expects to distribute to the Treasury, bringing the total to $108.2 billion in dividends. Notably, the $2.2 billion figure was down from its fourth quarter net income of $4.8 billion. Similarly, on May 5, Fannie reported net income of $2.8 billion in the first three months of 2017, money that will be sent to Treasury, which brings its total payments to $162.7 billion. The net income was a significant decline from the $5 billion it reported for the fourth quarter of 2016.
Fannie and Freddie also recently released their respective “Underserved Markets Plans” for public comment. As previously covered by InfoBytes, FHFA published a final rule in the December 18 Federal Register implementing certain Duty to Serve provisions of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992, as amended by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Among other things, these provisions require Fannie and Freddie to each adopt a formal “Underserved Markets Plan” to improve the availability of mortgage financing for residential properties that serve “very low-, low-, and moderate-income families” in three specified underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural markets. The Plans can be accessed through the following links:
As explained on the FHFA’s DTS Underserved Markets Plan page, the activities and objectives in each of these Plans may be subject to change based on factors including public input, FHFA comments, compliance with the Enterprises' Charter Acts, safety and soundness considerations, and market or economic conditions. To this end, “views of interested stakeholders are sought on whether the proposed Plans would effectively serve the underserved markets if carried out as proposed, or if there are modifications that each Enterprise should consider making to its proposed Plan to better serve these underserved markets.” The period during which the Enterprises are receiving public input on the proposed Plans will end on July 10.
Pursuant to the same new rule, FHFA has also published a Proposed Evaluation Guidance to provide: (i) FHFA's expectations regarding the development of the Underserved Markets Plans, and (ii) the process by which FHFA will evaluate Fannie’s and Freddie’s achievements under their Plans each year. The deadline for public input on FHFA’s Proposed Evaluation Guidance is June 7.
Fannie and Freddie Open Records Act of 2017 Passes House, Forwarded on to the Senate
On April 27, the House passed (by a vote of 425 to 0), the Fannie and Freddie Open Records Act of 2017 (H.R. 1694). The proposed measure—sponsored by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)—would subject Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the transparency requirements applicable to federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for the duration of the time the enterprises remain under FHFA conservatorship. Pursuant to FOIA, the public has presumptive access to agency records unless the material falls within any of FOIA’s nine categories of exception. Having passed in the House, the bill was subsequently forwarded on to the Senate, where it has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary committee. An April 24 Committee Report on the bill provides some explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill’s intentions.
FHFA Releases Credit Risk Transfer Progress Report; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Transfer $49 Billion in Risk to Investors
On March 27, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its Credit Risk Transfer Progress Report, presenting a comprehensive overview of the status and volume of credit risk transfer transactions to the private sector for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) through year-end 2016 in both the single-family and multifamily market. As outlined in the progress report, since the beginning of the Enterprises’ Single-Family Credit Risk Transfer Programs in 2013 through December 2016, the Enterprises have transferred $49 billion in credit risk to private investors, amounting to about 3.4 percent of $1.4 trillion in unpaid principal balance. In 2016, the Enterprises transferred about $18 billion worth of credit risk. Transfers include “credit risk transfers via debt issuances, insurance/reinsurance transactions, senior‐subordinate securitizations, and a variety of lender collateralized recourse transactions.” The Multifamily Credit Risk Transfer Program also plays a role in the Freddie Mac business model where “virtually all credit risk is transferred to investors through subordinated bonds structured to absorb credit risk.” Freddie Mac issued bonds on $57 billion of multi-family production in 2016, and Fannie Mae transferred approximately $9.4 billion of loans to the reinsurance industry. The report also examines the role of primary mortgage insurance in credit risk transfer transactions and the Enterprises’ debt issuances.
FHFA Includes New Classifications for Reporting Adverse Examination Findings; Amends FOIA Regulations
On March 14, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) issued an Advisory Bulletin establishing classifications of adverse examination findings for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Banks (“FHLBs”), and the FHLB’s Office of Finance (AB 2017-01). Effective for the 2017 examination cycle, the bulletin establishes three designated “classifications,” which can be used by examination staff to communicate adverse examination findings more effectively. The three classifications are meant both to identify priorities for remediation and also to guide FHFA in the development of supervisory strategies. These supervisory strategies include: (i) Matters Requiring Attention—both high-priority critical supervisory matters that pose substantial risk to safety and soundness and deficiencies that, if not corrected, have the potential to escalate and negatively affect a regulated entity or the Office of Finance; (ii) Recommendations—advisory suggestions regarding changes to a policy, procedure, practice, or control; and (iii) Violations—non-compliance with laws, regulations, or orders that requires action by a regulated entity or the Office of Finance to correct, if possible.
On March 15, FHFA issued an interim final rule, amending its FOIA regulations (12 CFR Part 1202) in an effort to bring its internal policies into accord with guidelines established through the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (Pub. L. No. 114-185) and the “OPEN FOIA Act of 2009” (Pub. L. No. 111-83, 123 Stat. 2142, 2184 (2009)). The new FOIA rules – which are effective as of March 15—require agencies to, among other things, provide a minimum of 90 days (rather than 30 days) for requesters to file an administrative appeal; and provide notification to requesters about the availability of dispute resolution services.
Fannie, Freddie and FHLBs Ordered to Report Results of Annual Stress Tests
On March 3, FHFA Director Melvin Watt issued orders directing FHFA regulated government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—Fannie Mae (Order No. 2017-OR-FNMA-01), Freddie Mac (Order No. 2017-OR-FHLMC-01), and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks collectively (Order No. 2017-OR-B-01)—to report the results of their stress tests so that the financial regulators may determine whether the GSEs “have the capital necessary to absorb losses as a result of adverse economic conditions.” The orders were issued pursuant to the requirement under the Dodd-Frank Act that covered financial institutions with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion conduct an annual stress test to determine whether they have sufficient capital to support operations in adverse economic conditions. Accompanying each order was a copy of the “2017 Report Cycle Dodd-Frank Stress Tests Summary Instructions and Guidance.”
On April 14, the FHFA order was officially published in the Federal Register.
D.C. Circuit: Investors Can’t Challenge Agreement Distributing Fannie/Freddie Net Worth to Treasury
On February 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that stockholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Companies) could not challenge dividend-allocating terms that FHFA negotiated on behalf of the Companies because the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) strictly limits judicial review of actions authorized thereunder. Perry Capital LLC v. Mnuchin, No. 14-5243, 2017 WL 677589 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 21, 2017).
In 2008, Fannie and Freddie were placed into conservatorship with FHFA, which then entered into a stock purchase agreement with Treasury to obtain emergency capital for Fannie and Freddie. In exchange, Treasury received preferred shares of stock from Fannie and Freddie that provided for a quarterly dividend of 10 percent of the total funds drawn from Treasury. After Fannie and Freddie began routinely borrowing from Treasury to pay the dividends, FHFA and Treasury amended the stock purchase agreement in 2012 so that repayment would be based on the Companies’ profits rather than mandatory dividends. The stockholder-plaintiffs in this action sought to challenge the 2012 amendment–in particular, arguing that the 2012 amendment exceeded the authority granted to FHFA under HERA and constituted “arbitrary and capricious conduct” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. One class of stockholders also argued that the amendment constituted a breach of fiduciary duty and certain terms and covenants of the Companies’ stock certificates. The district court had dismissed both complaints on the motions of FHFA and Treasury.
The D.C. Circuit opinion noted that Section 4617(f) of HERA expressly states that “no court may take any action to restrain or affect the exercise of powers or functions of the Agency as a conservator or a receiver.” The court interpreted this language to prohibit any court from “wielding [its] equitable relief to second-guess either the dividend-allocating terms . . . or FHFA’s business judgment.” And although an exception to this bar on judicial review has been recognized where an agency is found to have exceeded or violated its statutory powers or functions, the court determined that FHFA’s actions were within its statutory powers or functions.
Although the majority of the stockholders’ claims were rejected, the stockholders’ contract-based claims regarding liquidation preferences and dividend rights were remanded to the district court for further proceedings.
New FHFA Rule Requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Submit Underserved Markets Plan
FHFA published a final rule in the December 18 Federal Register implementing certain “Duty to Serve” provisions of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992, as amended by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Among other things, these provisions require that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac adopt formal plans to improve the availability of mortgage financing in a “safe and sound manner” for residential properties that serve “very low-, low-, and moderate-income families” in three specified underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural markets. FHFA’s new rule addresses this obligation by requiring both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to submit to FHFA a three-year “Underserved Markets Plan” that describes the activities and objectives they will undertake to meet their Duty to Serve requirements. The Plans will become effective January 2018, after which time, the new rule requires further that FHFA annually evaluate, rate, and report to Congress each Enterprise's compliance with its Duty to Serve obligations as required by the statute.
FHFA: No Increase on Multifamily Loan Caps for GSEs
On November 22, FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s caps for multifamily lending will remain at $36.5 billion for 2017. The determination was based on the agency’s projection that the overall size of the multifamily finance market will remain roughly the same as it was in 2016. Multifamily loans in designated affordable and underserved segments will remain excluded from the caps.
CFPB Creates HMDA and ECOA Safe Harbor for New Fannie/Freddie Application Form
On September 29, the CFPB published an Approval Action in the Federal Register that provides a safe harbor under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B for lenders who use the revised Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) form issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in August 2016. The Bureau’s Approval Action states that it has “determined that the relevant language in the 2016 URLA is in compliance with” Regulation B’s requirements for whether, and how, a creditor may seek information about an applicant’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, and income sources, and information about an applicant’s spouse or former spouse.
The Bureau’s Approval Action also offers flexibility for lenders who must collect and report information about mortgage applicants’ ethnicity and race under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), implemented by Regulation C. On October 28, 2015, the Bureau amended Regulation C to require covered lenders to offer applicants the opportunity to self-identify using disaggregated categories of ethnicity and race, effective January 1, 2018. The CFPB notes in the Federal Register notice that before January 1, 2108, asking applicants to self-identify using the disaggregated categories would not have been allowed under Regulation B’s restrictions on seeking information about an applicant’s ethnicity, race and other characteristics. The Approval Action gives lenders the option of using the disaggregated categories of ethnicity and race for applications taken in 2017 without violating Regulation B. It states that if a lender opts to collect information using the disaggregated categories in 2017, for applications that see final action before January 1, 2018, the lender must report the data to the Bureau using only the current aggregate categories for ethnicity and race. If a lender takes final action in 2018 or later on an application received in 2017, it may choose to report the data using either the current aggregate or the new disaggregated categories.