Laurie Goodman and Jun Zhu explain the complicated but critical controversy over the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) recent policy for sunsets on loan put-backs. At stake: the ongoing constraints on lending in the United States.
Laurie Goodman and Jun Zhu take issue with a report released in September by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Inspector General (OIG). The report was critical of a policy enacted in January, 2013, under Acting Director Ed DeMarco, to offer a "sunset" from loan put-backs for lenders with loans in certain situations.
The sunset policy was put in place to help "expand the credit box," according to Goodman and Zhu. But "[the] OIG found the January 2013 implementation of a set of sunset provisions to be flawed." Namely, "that the risks of the 36-month sunset were not sufficiently analyzed, and that the GSEs [Government Sponsored Enterprise, i.e., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] adopted the revised standards before putting the needed risk assessment tools in place."
Goodman and Zhu, however, argue that the OIG's report was incomplete in its analysis: "Our analysis of recent, more tailored data, however, reveals that the OIG’s analysis of this sensitive issue is incomplete and overstates the risks of the plan."
Read the full story: Incomplete OIG report overstates the risks of FHFA sunset plan
‘Renters Bill of Rights’ One Step Closer to Reality
The Biden administration could strengthen tenant protections on a national scale by leveraging federally backed mortgages to mandate rent stabilization and bar discrimination in rental housing.
Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae to Back $1 Million Mortgages
Expensive housing markets are about to cross a symbolic threshold.
Racial Bias Still Rampant in the Mortgage Industry
New research that controls for financial factors the industry said would explain disparities shows that race still plays a major role in loan decisions.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority