On February 9, 2011, the House of Representatives kicked off its effort to reform the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with a hearing by the House Financial Services Capital Markets and GSE Subcommittee on immediate steps toward reform.
While the hearing focused primarily on the single-family mortgage market, NMHC/NAA’s efforts to ensure that multifamily is not forgotten were evident in the comments made by several Subcommittee members saying that GSE reform must not have an adverse effect on multifamily lending. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) was quoted as saying "I believe that, if there is to be any government assistance to homeownership, it should be limited to first-time homebuyers or rental housing," and Ranking Member Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) noted that multifamily was one criterion she would use in evaluating any GSE reform proposals.
A link to a webcast of the full hearing and the written testimony of the witnesses is available here.