- 2 days ago
On today’s episode, Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler talks with Matt VanFossen, CEO of Absolute Home Mortgage and the president of the New Jersey Mortgage Bankers Association, about Trump appointing FHFA Director Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence.
Related to this episode:
Trump names FHFA Director Pulte acting director of national intelligence
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/bill-pulte-acting-dni/
HousingWire | YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDD_3y3LvU60vac7eki-6Q
More info about HousingWire
https://lnk.bio/housingwire
The HousingWire Daily podcast brings the full picture of the most compelling stories in the housing market reported across HousingWire. Each morning, listen to editor in chief Sarah Wheeler talk to leading industry voices and get a deeper look behind the scenes of the top mortgage and real estate.
Related to this episode:
Trump names FHFA Director Pulte acting director of national intelligence
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/bill-pulte-acting-dni/
HousingWire | YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDD_3y3LvU60vac7eki-6Q
More info about HousingWire
https://lnk.bio/housingwire
The HousingWire Daily podcast brings the full picture of the most compelling stories in the housing market reported across HousingWire. Each morning, listen to editor in chief Sarah Wheeler talk to leading industry voices and get a deeper look behind the scenes of the top mortgage and real estate.
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NewsTranscript
00:08Welcome, everyone. My guest today is Matt Van Fossen, the CEO of Absolute Home Mortgage
00:13and Mortgage Automation Technologies, as well as the president of the New Jersey Mortgage
00:18Bankers Association, to talk about Trump appointing FHFA Director Bill Pulte as the
00:24Acting Director of National Intelligence. First, I'm going to recap the top five trending
00:29articles on HousingWire.com, and no surprise, our article on Pulte is at the top of the charts
00:34today. Following that is our tracker on inventory growing negative and Berkshire Hathaway's big bet
00:39on housing, what agents should pay attention to. Rounding it out, we have Logan's latest on
00:45for mortgage rates, it's not about labor over inflation anymore, and an opinion piece on how
00:50Compass has made the MLS its proxy. Matt, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Sarah. Pleasure to be back.
00:57We have a pretty big topic today. Definitely something that surprised me, I think surprised
01:03most people, was that President Trump named Bill Pulte the Director of National Intelligence,
01:09right? So Pulte, of course, is our Director of FHFA. He oversees Fannie and Freddie. So really
01:17interesting, and I'm happy to pick your brain about what you think this means for people in
01:22our industry. Well, it's definitely interesting news that we saw this morning, and it's hot news.
01:30It's hot off the presses. So we'll try to dive in with as little information as we have right now.
01:37We'll speculate a little bit, but let's jump in. One thing I appreciate about this administration
01:43is that so often housing is sort of in a backwater at the federal level, right? We just don't make
01:51the
01:51news. Trump has put housing on the front page really since his first day in office. This is
01:56another example of that, although we're still trying to figure out what that means. What do you see when
02:01you think the FHFA director are having a whole other job? Because as this Director of National
02:06Intelligence, he'll be overseeing 18 agencies. Yeah, I think it's a great question. What I would say
02:12is this appointment is a strong vote of confidence in Bill Pulte's leadership. The president
02:19doesn't hand the keys to the intelligence community to someone he doesn't trust to execute at the
02:24highest level. You know, I think it reflects exactly what we've seen at FHFA, discipline judgment,
02:31you know, competence in operational and ability to manage some of the most sensitive matters in the
02:36government. So when you think about, you know, mortgage folks out there, real estate too, but
02:43mortgage folks out there who are like, you know, Fannie and Freddie, does this, do you feel like,
02:46how does someone run this many agencies? This is sort of a hallmark of the Trump administration,
02:51where people have multiple responsibilities. But this one in particular, if you think about the
02:57Director of National Intelligence, that's 18 separate agencies just under that.
03:01Well, I think when it comes to multitasking, Trump multitasks himself. So he expects his leaders to be
03:07able to do it as well at the highest standards. But when it comes to Fannie and Freddie,
03:12I think it's important to note that FHFA is a regulator. It's not an operating company. Fannie and
03:17Freddie each have their own experienced leadership teams, boards, robust internal controls that
03:24govern day-to-day operations. So the Director, you know, has built a strong bench and set a clear
03:29strategic direction at FHFA. Look at the movement that we've actually seen over the past 18 months.
03:37We're seeing enhancements in credit policies. We're seeing, from my personal experience,
03:44a more robust communication channel between the GSEs and mortgage lenders. We, you know,
03:50don't forget, 24 months ago, all the topic was the amount of buyback requests and audit requests that
03:56we are getting. A lot of that theming has kind of died down. And I do think we're seeing very
04:03efficient
04:03GSEs right now. And GSEs that are looking at their regulator and seeing reform going on
04:09with the adoption of VantageScore and, you know, some of the other ideas that have been presented
04:14out there. So, you know, when I look at his ability to manage multiple agencies, I'm looking
04:23one level down at the team that's underneath of his leadership, right? And I believe that Fannie and
04:31Freddie have great leadership already in place. And I do believe that the government has proper
04:37structure in place that will allow him to serve as the director of both on an interim basis.
04:44So you mentioned the credit scoring models that we've seen some news around. What else are you
04:50looking for, not only as an operator yourself, but, you know, you're, you're part of the different
04:55leadership of your state and national organizations, all these things, you're involved at a lot of
04:59levels. What are you looking for policy-wise that you're like, we're still, we're still working on
05:04these advocacy things? Well, of course, you know, I work hand in hand with Mortgage Bankers Association
05:09and serve on a lot of committees. We definitely want clarity around credit policy. We definitely want to
05:16see the single poll be able to go through. And more than anything, I think we look for an open
05:23ear
05:23and transparency and conversation on, on policy. We, we want to make sure that FHFA as a regulator is
05:31openly and effectively communicating with the industry so we can have a unified voice from MBA's
05:37perspective over to, to that agency, right? And that's what we, we hope that continues the most.
05:44And that's me speaking personally, not on behalf of MBA is that we always just want that, that clear,
05:49concise voice, that open line of communication so we can advocate on policies that do what we're all
05:55here for, which is lower the cost of housing. And I think that that's front and center inside of the
05:59current administration. We see it on the headlines every day. Like you said, when we opened up the
06:03call, that housing policy seems to be front and center. So just on a, you know, on an operator level,
06:10I'm out there, I'm an, I'm in mortgage. Maybe I have a, I run my mortgage company. Do, does any
06:16of
06:16this make you think, yeah, that guy needs to be like, oh, well, you know, our regulator, the head
06:21of our regulator is going to be busy doing other things. Right. And we also, Trump already has a,
06:26you know, he, he doesn't like regulation. He's a deregulation platform and president. But to your
06:32point, like, I don't think any of that goes away just because the head of the agency is busy doing
06:36other things. I think that the president was explicit. Bill remains FHFA director and chairman
06:43of Fannie and Freddie. The mission, the agenda, the trajectory at FHFA, they don't change.
06:50If anything, having direct visibility into the administration's highest priority files makes
06:56him more effective at protecting the safety and soundness of housing and the finance system,
07:01not less. He's going to be a much more critical individual inside of the current administration.
07:07And, you know, if I look at a positive outlook of this, you know, his, his stock is rising and,
07:14and it escalates him to potentially a bigger seat at the table. And maybe he can, you know, again,
07:20I'm looking at all the positives, try to use this into the benefit of housing.
07:26Interesting. To your point, I mean, this is a cabinet level position, obviously, whereas FHFA
07:32is not, director is not. So you would think, you know, he's going to be in, I mean, he's going
07:36to
07:36be leading this whole team of, in a different direction. Is there anything negative that you
07:42see about this for housing specifically? Well, before we go into potential negative outcomes,
07:48you know, you made a very interesting comment about, you know, it's a cabinet level position,
07:54you know, housing finance now has a seat at the table where historically has had one, you know,
08:00having the FHFA director serve in a cabinet level national security role means that the housing
08:05market has a stronger, more elevated voice inside of the administration, arguably more so than any
08:13point in recent memory. So I think that that's actually a net positive for the industry. Sure,
08:20there's potential negative outcomes, right, behind it, but that's speculative, right? That's,
08:27you know, I like to talk about stress. Stress is the preconceived notion of what has not already
08:32happened. And that's a rabbit hole that you can always go down. What happens if this happens? If
08:37this happens, then the next thing's going to happen, right? But it's purely speculative. So, you know,
08:44of course, there's concerns about conservatorship and where this leads, you know, the GSEs. But,
08:50you know, there's one thing that I've seen throughout this administration, whether it be
08:55Trump administration one or Trump administration two, they have an agenda, and they're adamant on
09:00going and executing on that agenda. They may do it in what's perceived as unconventional ways,
09:06but it does seem like, you know, there is progress, nonetheless, on agenda items.
09:12So you brought up conservatorship. Love that. Because one of the things that I heard,
09:16depending on who you read, what you're looking out there on social, is it's like, does this open up
09:23the idea of taking the GSEs out of conservatorship? Because it might be that, you know, if he gets
09:30confirmed into, right now, he's just acting director, right, of the national intelligence. If he gets
09:35confirmed into that role, that might give Trump the ability to put someone else in at FHFA, which
09:42could then lead to conservator, bringing them out of conservatorship. But at the same time, like in
09:47our current mortgage rate environment, it seems very unlikely that it doesn't matter, even if that
09:52were true, that that's something they would pursue right now. Well, I don't want to speculate on GSE
09:57conservatorship exit timing, right? We're all unsure what timing would look like. But from a measured
10:04approach, I think that there's no change in direction. You know, that if the intention of
10:09the administration is to lead them out of conservatorship, regardless of the director
10:13in place, that we'll see execution of that policy. Now, don't forget that we have, you know,
10:20political headwinds coming, you know, we're already in a midterm cycle. And then after the
10:25midterms were, you know, already clearing down, you know, winding down of the administration for
10:31the last two years. So what you could see is a faster track system, right? Depending on the
10:37political climate of the country, you know, where the sentiment of the voters is going, you know,
10:45you might see the administration try to achieve their goals at a more rapid pace. But whoever,
10:51if, you know, if the director, you know, is looking for a permanent confirmation for national,
10:58the national security director role, then we're looking at a replacement or a potential new FHFA
11:05director, I would expect them to stay on course. And we've seen certain roles in the administration
11:11get swapped out. I think Trump one was more notorious for swapping out the cabinet members
11:18than currently, but we've seen a couple exits. And it does seem like the administration stays on
11:23steady course, they have a backup plan, and they appoint somebody. And, you know, we see the
11:28progress continue.
11:30One thing I'm interested in is that Pulte was really a bulldog for Trump on going after, say,
11:35Lisa Cook, right? So really trying to influence who is on the Fed, the Fed direction. I mean,
11:43maybe now that that's going to be less of a priority. I mean, we've already seen that because
11:48we had, you know, different court rulings or whatever, that that's been put on hold anyway.
11:53But I think that's an interesting part of this is that maybe the Fed gets left alone more.
11:58Well, I think that Bill is quickly emerging as one of the most trusted operators in the Trump
12:04administration. And potentially because he has been a bulldog for the president,
12:10for the GSEs and for FHA and the broader housing ecosystem, the influence translates into real
12:17advocacy at the highest levels of the government. So, you know, we might see that continue, but,
12:22you know, he might be a bit more reserved. And again, I'm speculating just, you know, as in the new
12:29role, I'm not sure we would see as many, you know, tweets that, you know, are talking about policy,
12:35there would probably be a little bit more conservative, you know, in that role.
12:42But I do, I do expect him to continue to apply pressure in his role as the FHFA director
12:48to administrative policy.
12:50Any other thoughts on Bill Pulte as a, you know, director of national intelligence?
12:55Just a couple of thoughts. You know, I think the president's giving Bill Pulte a great honor and
13:00responsibility. And he feels like he's earned it. And that's good news for the country. And it's good
13:05news for housing if he continues on this trajectory. You know, relatively speaking, he's a young man,
13:12you know, he's eager to make a name for himself. And I think he's viewing this as a great opportunity.
13:20And I wish him the best. And I think, you know, it's, it's, regardless of all of our own opinions,
13:26whether it be political or not, we all wish for the same thing, a strong country,
13:31a strong housing system, a strong economy, affordability. And as long as we all stick to
13:38that same goal, we, it's best for all of us to wish everybody well.
13:43Appreciate you being on, Matt. And we'll be watching this closely and seeing what the
13:47implications are for, for those in mortgage, real estate, housing in general, but thanks for being on.
13:53Thanks, Sarah.
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