Federal measure would replace Fannie, Freddie with reinsurer

Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac

A group of U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle is expected to propose legislation to create a government reinsurer to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bloomberg News reported.

The 154-page bill would maintain the federal government’s role backing mortgage lending, but would require private lenders to take a 10 percent loss on the principal of underlying home loans under a “first-loss provision.”

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In the absence of Fannie and Freddie, a Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp. would also try to build a common securitization platform to help small lenders issue securities, Bloomberg said.

The bill, sponsored by Senators Mark Warner, D.-Va., Bob Corker, R.-Tenn., and others, was revised from an earlier version that would have had lenders take an even sharper loss on bad mortgages.  Still, critics have called the proposal too far a departure from the current system. [Bloomberg News]Mark Maurer