Bill Pulte, the newly confirmed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), is wasting no time in making a splash with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, suggesting they too might receive the DOGE treatment that other government entities have already experienced.
In a series of messages posted to his X account on Friday morning, he wrote:
“Fannie and Freddie generate over $30 billion in earnings per year. The Fannie & Freddie Management Teams and I will immediately review their 2025 budgets (like business does!) to help restore the American Dream for Americans who have been crushed these last 4 years.”
“Eliminating mortgage fraud and fraud in general will be a main focus at Fannie, Freddie, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.“
These comments follow others made on Thursday in which he suggests that Fannie and Freddie’s workforce of 15,000 people have been “underperforming as companies and in safety and soundness. But now, thanks to President Trump and his Golden Age of Housing, we will fix it, Effective Immediately.”
The Trump administration is widely expected to attempt the removal of Fannie and Freddie from their conservatorships, a complicated process that will result in questions about the government’s role in the mortgage markets. Mortgage policymakers and industry trade groups expect the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) — which support about half of the mortgage market in America — to have a smaller footprint under the Trump administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has tied any exit from conservatorship to lower mortgage rates. And this week, Pulte wrote that the Trump administration was responsible for the decline in rates in recent weeks.
Regarding the GSEs’ oversight of loan quality, Fannie Mae in particular has been cracking down on mortgage fraud in the multifamily sector for the better part of a year. The GSE earlier this month published updated guidelines to better identify mortgage fraud.
The document cited loans underwritten to a higher occupancy rate than the true occupancy at the time of purchase. It also mentioned appraisals that fall short of the property’s historical record and broker-prepared financial statements. Following a series of high-profile multifamily fraud cases, Fannie has also instituted blacklists on sponsors and commercial real estate brokerages.
Pulte has not mentioned loan buybacks in the single-family space, a bugaboo for originators who regularly complained to Pulte’s predecessor, Sandra Thompson, that the GSEs were too aggressive in making them repurchase loans that were performing but had minor defects.
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