The Major Players
The big push from funny names
Fat Cat Fight: Fannie Mae vs. FM Watch - You are going to love this
- FM Watch
- "If you have
information on how Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac are placing the interests of
their investors above the interests of
homebuyers and exposing taxpayers to
unwarranted risks, you can report it to
us. Your identity will be confidential." Yeah, and use a secret code name, too.
- "The forced use of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's own proprietary
products and technology is seriously undermining private market competition."
- "Technology developed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be
used by them for their internal risk management purposes only and
not used in the primary market.
- FM Watch Observer - "So FM Watch Observer
was born, a means by which some plucky Fannie Mae employees can
keep the Coalition for Higher Mortgage Costs honest." If you're plucky, do you call yourself "plucky"?
Coming Soon: FM Watch Observer Examiner
Coming Later: FM Watch Observer Examiner Witness
Still to Come: FM Watch Observer Examiner Witness Intelligence Gathering
Still in the Hopper: FM Watch Observer Examiner Witness Intelligence Gathering Scrutinizer
The Spinning is Just Beginning:
- FM Watch: HUD Questions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's Activities
- FM Watch: "... Mr. Friedman is the chairman of FM Watch, a recently launched watchdog group
that works with consumer and taxpayer groups, affordable housing advocates and
financial institutions dedicated to ensuring that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two
Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) keep the interests of homebuyers
and taxpayers above the interests of their investors."
FM Watch Observer: "... a review of the biographies of the top people
who run and advise the organization shows that their backgrounds
are a little light on consumer advocacy."
- FM Watch: "FM WATCH is a coalition of financial services and housing related trade associations working with affordable housing and consumer advocates, taxpayer groups and financial institutions. FM WATCH is dedicated to monitoring the activities of two government-subsidized enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
FM Watch Observer: "Such entities are often mischaracterized as Government-Sponsored Enterprises, a misnomer which fails to recognize that the activities of a CCC are entirely supported by the revenue of the company and the capital of private investors and are not in any way guaranteed by the federal government."
- FM Watch: "Fannie and Freddie are returning unparalleled profits to their
investors. The GSEs earned more than $5 billion in 1998, almost half
of which came from their retained Federal subsidies."
FM Watch Observer: "FM
Watch is a group of mortgage insurers, high-cost lenders,
and their allies who want
to roll back Fannie Mae policies that cut costs to
consumers. We call them
the Coalition for Higher Mortgage Costs, because
if they had their way, the costs that Fannie Mae lowers
would go up."
Watching the FM Watch
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Government Sponsored
Enterprises
- Fannie Mae
- Statement by Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) in Reaction to Decrease in Mortgage Rates (4/6/00). "For a second time in as many weeks, a spokesman for Fannie Mae has issued and then subsequently retracted verbal attacks against a high-ranking official of the U.S. Treasury Department... While I am troubled by the semblance of an emerging pattern in the tone of these comments, I am more concerned with the inaccuracy and implications of Fannie's most recent charges against the administration."
- Credit Rating: We Should Know the Score (washingtonpost.com) - "Fannie Mae, the nation's largest provider of mortgage money, has announced that it plans to stop using the credit-scoring system developed by Fair, Isaac & Co." (March 19, 2000)
- Trading blows
- HUD Says Mortgage Policies Hurt Blacks - "'The absence of active involvement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in these markets limits the opportunities for African American families to get conventional mortgages,' William Apgar, HUD's federal housing commissioner, said in an interview yesterday... Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's advertisements frequently feature black families, and the companies portray themselves as leaders in minority lending."
- Fannie Mae has Played Critical Role in Expansion of Minority Homeownership Over Past Decade; Raines Pledges to Lead Market for African American Mortgage Lending - "The Post story intimates that Fannie Mae does not support African American homebuyers. That story is simply wrong, and I am outraged by it."
- Freddie Mac
- "Statistics show that 72 percent of white households own homes, compared to 46 percent of African-American households... Moreover, income alone does not explain this disparity. For
example, among people with incomes under $25,000, 48 percent of
African-American borrowers have 'bad' credit, compared to 31
percent of white borrowers; in the $65,000 to $75,000 income
bracket, 34 percent of African-American borrowers have 'bad'
credit compared to 20 percent of white borrowers."
- "As mortgage
scoring progresses, it will
become much easier to attach an
objective measure of credit risk
and other associated costs to
each applicant and convert
that quantification into a price."
- Credit Scores - A Win/Win/Win Approach for Homebuyers, Lenders and Investors
- Automated
Underwriting: Making Mortgage
Lending Simpler and Fairer for
America's Families
- Get A
Running Start On Good Credit
- The
Promise of Automated Underwriting
- Seller
Bulletins
- Seller
Bulletins
National
Association of Mortgage Brokers
Mortgage Bankers
Association of America
Associated Credit
Bureaus, Inc.
- "ACB has four priorities:
- Providing
federal and state legislative
support
- Serving
as the spokesperson for the
industry with the media
- Setting
industry
standards which
assist consumers and ACB members
- Providing
educational material for
consumers and ACB members"
(Includes,
in an extraordinary effort, an entire
link to Fair, Isaac's site.)
Accuracy. Metro 2, a new format to
learn: Invites creditors (tasked with
providing to the credit reporting
agencies accurate data about your
accounts) to voluntarily make a trip to
Las Vegas or Chicago, pay $125 for a
seminar on this exciting topic, and $159
for a hotel room. Airfare not included.
Gives them "a unique opportunity - to
learn the new Format from the people who
designed it."
Undoubtedly
at the top of every IS Manager's event
list.
And they
haven't even had a chance to master the
old format.
Also
includes a "Group Learning Activity"
discussing "Accuracy, Completeness,
Timeliness of reporting." Golly, it
seems so basic; why would they be doing
that?
The New!
Metro (hopefully it includes rural
consumers, too) 2!
International
Credit Association (defunct)
- "ICA
has just started the process of
dissolution and therefore is not
accepting membership applications
or product orders."
- "ICA
MISSION STATEMENT - To
advance the credit industry and
profession worldwide by
furnishing information, education
and standards; and to further
public awareness and
understanding of the proper use
of credit."
- "International
Credit Association Code of Ethics
- ... The Association will work with
governmental agencies to help
advance programs to educate
consumers on the proper use of
credit..."
- "International
Credit Association Standards of
Conduct:... To Society:... Support and
participate in
programs that favorably affect
society, citizens and communities
served by ICA, and to the fullest
extent seek solutions to social
problems and concerns relevant to
the credit industry."
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