A confidant of Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to a principal competitor, alarming senior officials of the government-backed lending giant who warned it could expose the company to claims it was colluding with a rival to fix mortgage rates. Emails reviewed by the AP show that Fannie Mae executives were unnerved about what one called the "very problematic" disclosure of data by Lauren Smith, the company's head of marketing, who was acting on Pulte's behalf.
"Lauren, the information that was provided to Freddie Mac in this email is a problem," Malloy Evans, a senior VP in Fannie Mae's single-family mortgage division, wrote in an Oct. 11 email. "That is confidential, competitive information." He also copied Fannie Mae's CEO, Priscilla Almodovar, on the email, which bore the subject line: "As Per Director Pulte's Ask." Evans asked Fannie Mae's top attorney "to weigh in on what, if any, steps we need to take legally to protect ourselves now." While Smith still holds her position, the senior Fannie Mae officials who called her conduct into question were all forced out of their jobs last month, along with internal ethics watchdogs investigating Pulte and his allies.
The dismissals rattled the housing industry, drew condemnation from Democrats, and gave Pulte's critics evidence to support claims that he's leveraged the nonpublic information available to him to further his own political aims. "This is another example of Bill Pulte weaponizing his role to do Donald Trump's bidding, instead of working to lower costs amidst a housing crisis," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. "His behavior raises significant questions, and he needs to be brought in front of Congress to answer them."
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The episode marks the latest example of Pulte using a typically low-profile federal position to enhance his own standing and gain the attention of President Trump. He's prompted mortgage fraud investigations of prominent Democrats and Trump critics, including Sen. Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Rep. Eric Swalwell. In a statement, the FHFA said the agency "requires its regulated entities to carry out their operations in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations." Fannie Mae, meanwhile, said it takes "compliance with the law very seriously, and we have a rigorous program to ensure we follow all laws and regulations." More here.
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