Democrats urge FHFA’s Pulte to ‘do his job’

A group of Democratic lawmakers called on Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Director Bill Pulte to “do his job” and focus on finding solutions to make housing more affordable, rather than concentrating on matters outside his purview — such as who runs the Federal Reserve.

In a letter Friday, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., criticized Pulte’s prioritization of “aiding the President Donald Trump’s illegal campaign to take over the Fed,” and called on the FHFA head to lower housing costs instead. The group went as far as outlining a handful of ways Pulte could go about doing so.

“Instead of spinning rumors about the Federal Reserve Chair’s retirement or taking credit for credit scoring actions and title insurance pilots created by former FHFA Director Sandra Thompson under the Biden Administration, you could demonstrate an actual commitment to improving the everyday lives of the American people and work to make housing more affordable for them,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Pulte. 

In their address to the FHFA director, the three Democratic senators highlighted that house prices increased 3% since last year, while median asking rents were 41% higher than in 2020.

“We urge you to reorder your priorities and begin taking meaningful actions to bring affordable housing and homeownership into reach for the American people,” the lawmakers said.

FHFA’s Pulte previously made headlines after accusing several prominent Democrats, including Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., of mortgage fraud, but tensions reached a fever pitch last week after he accused Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook of committing occupancy fraud prior to being sworn in to serve on the central bank’s board. Shortly afterward, Trump said he would remove Cook from the Fed and the governor responded by filing a lawsuit against the president.

The senators outlined eight suggestions Pulte could take to potentially curb rising housing costs, including conducting a study to see how the re-privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might impact consumers and the housing market.

Expectations have been building for a Fannie-Freddie IPO, with President Trump recently dropping hints that it may come as soon as this fall, but there could be potential downsides for borrowers. Privatizing the two housing agencies could push mortgage interest rates up, at least in the short term, mortgage industry stakeholders have previously noted.

The senators also suggested that Pulte increase money appropriated to the Federal Home Loan Banks’ Affordable Housing Program, an initiative that supports development and rehabilitation of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households. Most recently, Pulte moved to reduce the number of FHLB board director seats at most of the 11 Federal Home Loan banks, with the steepest reductions at institutions located in heavily Democratic cities. For now it is uncertain how and if the reduction will impact the FHLB’s investments into housing and community development.

They also suggested that the FHFA support affordable multifamily construction and rehabilitation lending.

“Housing and the American dream of homeownership are the backbone of this country. Now is the time to deliver emergency price relief, as the President has called on you to do. We thank you for your attention to this critical issue,” the letter said.

Pulte in a statement Friday blamed “Elizabeth Warren, Jerome Powell, and Joe Biden” for making housing less affordable over the past four years.

“We are doing everything we can to reverse this damage, including removing mortgage fraud,” Pulte’s statement concludes.