This letter by Scott Olson, executive director of CHLA, appeared in The Washington Post “Letters to the Editor” on June 7, 2016 in response to the June 3 editorial, “A financial zombie”.
Don’t reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the grasp of Wall Street and big banks
The policy choice we face is simple: Either turn over the securitization and mortgage markets for government-guaranteed mortgage loans to the banking and securities conglomerates that engineered the subprime mortgage crisis or maximize mortgage choices for consumers through a competitive market in which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac serve all mortgage originators.
The Community Home Lenders Association, which represents small and midsize non-bank lenders, is fighting to retain and reform Fannie and Freddie so fixed-rate mortgages and homeownership remain a reality for all Americans. The charge of returning to a “private-gain, public-risk” model serves only as a smokescreen for those who support a big-bank-controlled mortgage market with Fannie and Freddie “dead.” The CHLA and others, including consumer and affordable-housing groups, put forth ideas to retain these important players and protect taxpayers through risk-sharing, a capital buffer and other reforms. We urge the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress to support these ideas.
Scott Olson, Arlington
The writer is executive director of the Community Home Lenders Association.