Congresswoman Maxine Waters is pursuing a formalized proposal that she hopes will preserve the 30-year mortgage.
Waters believes her government guarantee idea on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds will be key to accomplishing this goal. Further she wants to see this happen without costing the taxpayer a dime. Instead, the mortgage industry will pay.
"Next week, I will be discussing a proposal with Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee to reform the GSEs, which takes into consideration the changes in the marketplace since the crisis," Waters said in a statement. "This proposal will preserve the affordable 30-year, fixed rate mortgage and provide an explicit government guarantee that is paid for by industry."
Following today's announcement that Fannie Mae finally returned a profit to the United States treasury, Waters emphasized more work is needed.
Waters most recently said she wants to put the regulatory microscope on the transfer of mortgage servicing rights.
Fannie Mae will pay a dividend in March that will bring the total to $121.1 billion. Since 2008, Fannie received $116.1 billion in government bailouts.
"In 2008, as the economy was reeling out of control, Democrats worked with a Republican Administration to staunch the bleeding by putting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship," Waters said.
"Doing so was controversial, but the action helped stabilize the housing market and provided Congress the opportunity to address the root causes of the subprime crisis," she added.
