Fresh controversy has engulfed the U.S. housing finance sector after internal emails revealed that a close ally of Bill Pulte the Trump administration\u2019s top housing regulator shared confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae with a competing firm, Freddie Mac, triggering internal alarm and a wave of high-level dismissals.<\/p>\n
The documents, reviewed by The Associated Press and later confirmed by industry officials, show that Lauren Smith, Fannie Mae\u2019s head of marketing, circulated the sensitive data \u201cas per Director Pulte\u2019s ask.\u201d Senior executives warned immediately that the move risked exposing the company to allegations of rate-fixing and collusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is confidential, competitive information,\u201d wrote Malloy Evans, a senior vice president, who also alerted Fannie Mae\u2019s chief executive. He requested legal guidance on how to shield the company from possible regulatory consequences.<\/p>\n
Within weeks, the executives who questioned the conduct including Evans, CEO Priscilla Almodovar, and top ethics officials were forced out. Smith remains in her role.<\/p>\n
Their abrupt departure has unsettled the housing market and intensified criticism of Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and oversees both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.<\/p>\n
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the revelations add to concerns about political interference. \u201cThis is another example of Bill Pulte weaponizing his role to do Donald Trump\u2019s bidding,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A Wider Pattern of Influence<\/strong><\/p>\n The episode is the latest in a series of actions that have elevated Pulte\u2019s influence far beyond the traditionally technical confines of the FHFA. The 37-year-old heir to a homebuilding fortune has established himself as a fierce Trump loyalist, aggressively pursuing investigations of political opponents and positioning himself as a powerful voice on mortgage and housing policy.<\/p>\n He and his wife also contributed roughly $1 million to Trump\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n Pulte has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to explore accepting cryptocurrency for mortgage purchases\u00a0 a controversial shift and last week persuaded the president to consider 50-year mortgages as a strategy to expand homeownership.<\/p>\n His handling of confidential data has drawn particular scrutiny. In one instance, he publicly referenced lender-level builder data while pressuring major home construction firms to increase output, after Trump criticized the industry on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cOn it,\u201d Pulte responded at the time.<\/p>\n The Data That Triggered the Shake-Up<\/strong><\/p>\n Emails show Smith coordinated efforts to gather a tranche of mortgage pricing information at Pulte\u2019s request. Fannie Mae\u2019s legal team later warned that sharing those figures with Freddie Mac \u201ccould put the company at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Top executives were copied on the warnings\u00a0 and then removed from their positions days later. In their place, Pulte allies rose: John Roscoe, a former Trump aide, was promoted to co-president, while Peter Akwaboah became acting CEO.<\/p>\n A day after the internal dispute, Trump posted a graphic on his platform highlighting Fannie Mae, major homebuilders, and the caption, \u201cWe Give Them Billions.\u201d Pulte reposted it immediately.<\/p>\n Growing Concern in Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n The Federal Housing Finance Agency said only that it expects all regulated entities to comply with the law. Fannie Mae stressed that it takes regulatory obligations seriously.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Pulte and Smith did not respond to inquiries.<\/p>\n The episode has intensified calls for congressional scrutiny, with lawmakers warning that the nation\u2019s multi-trillion-dollar mortgage system is vulnerable to political manipulation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fresh controversy has engulfed the U.S. housing finance sector after internal emails revealed that a close ally of Bill Pulte the Trump administration\u2019s top housing regulator shared confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae with a competing firm, Freddie Mac, triggering internal alarm and a wave of high-level dismissals. The documents, reviewed by The Associated<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,239],"tags":[2255,2245,243,2256,1087],"class_list":{"0":"post-14483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-market","8":"category-usa-canada","9":"tag-data-security","10":"tag-housing","11":"tag-politics","12":"tag-regulation","13":"tag-united-states"},"yoast_head":"\n