Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement in response to changes that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mark Calabria made to Treasury’s ownership stake in the government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “It is simply unacceptable that Treasury... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Mr. Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, urging him to listen to concerns from all stakeholders and halt any significant changes to our housing finance system durin... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, sent a letter to President-Elect Joseph R. Biden, providing recommendations on areas where the Biden Administration should immediately reverse the actions of the Trump Administration, and several actions that the Biden Administration can immediately take to coordinate the federal response to COVID-1... Read more »

Today, in response to the Trump Administration’s release of a housing finance reform proposal, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: “Reforming our system of housing finance is a proposition that has very serious implications for millions of Americans, including those aspiring to become homeowners as well as rente... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency, following President Trump’s appointment of Otting to serve as Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Ch... Read more »

Today, at a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s role as conservator and regulator of the Government Sponsored Enterprises,” Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, gave the following statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We are here today for a hearing on oversight of the Federal... Read more »

Today, at a full Committee hearing entitled, “A Failure to Act: How a Decade without GSE Reform Has Once Again Put Taxpayers at Risk,” Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement: As Prepared for Delivery “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this hearing will focus on the failure to reform our housing finance syst... Read more »

The bill comes on the heels of Ranking Member Waters’ bill to prevent foreclosures on FHA Borrowers. A decade after the devastating foreclosure crisis, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, continues the fight to ensure hardworking Americans can remain in their homes by introducing H.R. 6102, the Homeowner Mortgage Servicing Fairness Act o... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, released a statement in response to the release of Fannie Mae’s fourth quarter and full-year 2017 earnings report, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) decision for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to proceed with the allocation of funding to the Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund in 2018... Read more »

In 2008 we saw the consequences of the risky, irresponsible lending and financial practices resulting from the false ideology that financial markets can somehow properly police themselves. Lax mortgage standards and an unhealthy amount of risk taken by financial institutions and other market participants led to an economy that was not rooted in reality. The result was a series of events that left ... Read more »

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters' plan to let banks control a sole entity to issue government-backed mortgage securities is dead-on-arrival, but her proposal still significantly alters the housing reform debate. A different housing finance bill in the Senate — which envisions private-market competition for securitizing loans — has greater bipartisan support and is scheduled for a Banking Committee ... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, released a comprehensive legislative proposal to reform the housing finance market. Known as the Housing Opportunities Move the Economy (HOME) Forward Act of 2014, the legislation ends Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and creates a new, cooperative-owned securities issuer. For months, Waters has been working with he... Read more »

A top House Democrat has offered her own take on overhauling the mortgage market, introducing legislation as Congress begins to move toward comprehensive legislation. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) unveiled her spin on the bipartisan priority Thursday, dubbing it the Housing Opportunities Move the Economy Forward Act. “Reforming a 10 trillion dollar housing finance market is an immense undertaking ... Read more »

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., unveiled a new plan Thursday to overhaul the housing finance market, entering what's becoming a crowded field of proposals to restructure the mortgage system. The discussion draft, titled the Housing Opportunities Move the Economy Forward Act, would unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, like many of the competing plans in both the House and Senate. Unlike th... Read more »

Yet another proposal for winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and overhauling the nation’s housing finance system will be put before Congress on Thursday, this one by Representative Maxine Waters of California, the ranking Democratic member of the Financial Services Committee. The major distinction of Ms. Waters’s proposal is that it would make the mortgage lending system more like a public uti... Read more »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today applauded Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) for reaching agreement on an effort to reform the housing finance system. She released the following statement: “I am encouraged by the news that Senators Johnson and Crapo have reached agreement on principles for the reform of Fannie Mae a... Read more »

Jeb Hensarling is finding out the hard way that conservative purity and running a powerful House committee don’t always mix. Even though he holds the gavel of the House Financial Services Committee, he recently had a bill yanked from under him by leadership because he wouldn’t compromise, while top priorities — like overhauling the housing finance system — are stuck in limbo because he can’t muste... Read more »

Today, Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) Fannie Mae announced it has earned a fourth quarter profit of $6.5 billion in 2013 and will repay $7.2 billion to the U.S. Department of the Treasury in March. The payment will mean the company has returned $121.1 billion back to the taxpayers –returning even more than the $116.1 billion it received after being taken over by the government in 2008. Thi... Read more »

Calls for principal reduction, more equal access to market After several critical years in the wake of the housing meltdown, the market recovery is continue to take shape. However, the recovery could be much stronger if housing reform sees immediate action, specifically the pursuit of more widespread principal reduction, which would provide the best return for taxpayers, argues Rep. Maxine Waters,... Read more »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters¸ Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, offered the following statement in reaction to the failure of the U.S. Senate to invoke cloture on Melvin L. Watt as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. “I am extremely disappointed that the U.S. Senate has blocked the nomination of Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Mel has over fo... Read more »

The nomination of Rep. Mel Watt to be the regulator for housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed a key procedural vote Thursday because of strong Republican opposition.. President Obama nominated Watt, a veteran Democrat from North Carolina, in May to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. But attempts to bring his nomination to a vote by the full Senate failed Thursday... Read more »

WASHINGTON — With the leading House Republican plan to overhaul the mortgage finance market stuck in limbo, several Democrats have begun work on alternative proposals that could further divide support for the GOP bill. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced his legislation to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and remove a government backstop from the ma... Read more »

A third bill will be introduced to the US Congress to tackle the last major remnant of the financial crisis: reform of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, is the latest lawmaker to put forward a plan to overhaul Fannie and Freddie. The final version will probably reflect a combination of at least two of the prop... Read more »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s speech outlining his plan for housing finance reform in Phoenix. “I’m pleased that the President is making housing finance reform a top priority, and has outlined an approach that is consistent with our recently-released House Financi... Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee released the following statement in response to committee passage of the inaptly-named “Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act” or “PATH Act” (H.R. 2767). H.R. 2767 is a Republican bill that would unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and remove any government support from the secondary mortgage market. Ho... Read more »