Las Vegas Housing Update: Death of Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac Coming?
Many media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are reporting that the Obama administration is considering plans to get the government out of the mortgage business and are submitting different plans “to bring a controlled end” to the government sponsored enterprises (GSE’s). In other words, their going to pull the plug on these brain-dead behemoths.
Neither Fannie or Freddie has posted a profit in over three years and the American taxpayers have subsidized them with $150 billion dollars of support to keep them operating. Many opponents of the bailouts felt nothing could save the GSE’s and the any monies spent would be wasted. It seems they were correct.
The government is finally crying “uncle” and this is a good thing. They should stick to oversight and get out of the mortgage business. Private companies are best equipped to provide financing; however, they need to do so in a lucid manner that best serves the long term interests of their shareholders…responsible lending.
Although no final plans have been adopted, the general consensus is to phase out Fannie and Freddie in the next few years. It should be noted that the process of eliminating Fannie/Freddie will have no impact on persons who are currently doing short sales or are in the loan modification or foreclosure process. These are huge institutions and shutting them down will take 3-5 years.