Who Should Be Providing Mortgage Credit to American Households?

14 Pages Posted: 30 Oct 2014

Date Written: October 28, 2014

Abstract

Who should be providing mortgage credit to American households? Given that the residential mortgage market is a ten-trillion-dollar one, the answer we come up with had better be right, or we may suffer another brutal financial crisis sooner than we would like. Indeed, the stakes are as high as they were in the Great Depression when the foundation of our current system was first laid down. Unfortunately, the housing finance experts of the 1930s seemed to have a greater clarity of purpose when designing their housing finance system. Part of the problem today is that debates over the housing finance system have been muddled by broader ideological battles and entrenched special interests, as well as by plain old inertia and the fear of change. It is worth taking a step back to evaluate the full range of options available to us, as the course we decide upon will shape the housing market for generations to come.

This is a Response to Brent Horton, For the Protection of Investors and the Public: Why Fannie Mae’s Mortgage-Backed Securities Should Be Subject to the Disclosure Requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, 89 Tulane L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2014-2015).

Keywords: GSE, Fannie, Freddie, Government-Sponsored Enterprise, FHFA, Federal Housing Finance Agency, housing finance, mortgage market, guaranteed mortgage, liquidity, access to credit, affordable housing, first-time homebuyers, securitization, Dodd-Frank, CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Suggested Citation

Reiss, David J., Who Should Be Providing Mortgage Credit to American Households? (October 28, 2014). Tulane Law Review, Vol. 89, 2014-2015, Forthcoming, Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 398, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2515784

David J. Reiss (Contact Author)

Brooklyn Law School ( email )

250 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
86
Abstract Views
744
Rank
527,705
PlumX Metrics