The General Accountability Office (GAO) has begun work on a report requested by Congress last summer on the GSEs’ multifamily programs. NAA/NMHC urged lawmakers to make the request so decisions made about housing finance reform would be informed by a strong, data-driven understanding of Fannie and Freddie’s multifamily activities and the meaningful differences they have in scope, structure and performance from their single-family operations.
GAO has conducted preliminary meetings with the GSEs and their regulators. On Jan. 13, representatives met with NAA/NMHC to help develop its framework for the research.
During our meeting, we discussed several key areas, including:
• The GSEs’ multifamily products and how their lending activities compared to other mortgage capital sources from 1992 to 2012;
• How the GSEs’ credit standards and market activities varied by geography and property type;
• Risk-management activities, including HUD risk-sharing programs; and
• Affordable housing performance.
Once completed, the GAO report is expected to be a very valuable resource to support our efforts to ensure a “do no harm” approach to multifamily finance as lawmakers reign in the excesses in the single-family sector that led to the financial collapse.