![]() Seal | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | July 30, 2008[1] |
Preceding agencies | |
Employees | ~731 (2019) |
Agency executive |
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Website | www |
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is an independent federal agency in the United States created as the successor regulatory agency of the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development government-sponsored enterprise mission team,[3] absorbing the powers and regulatory authority of both entities, with expanded legal and regulatory authority, including the ability to place government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) into receivership or conservatorship.[4][5][6]
In its role as regulator, it regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks, or FHLBank System). It is wholly separate from the Federal Housing Administration, which largely provides mortgage insurance.
In September 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in an en banc opinion, ruled that the structure of the FHFA violated constitutional separation of powers because its director could not be removed by the president.[7] The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that part of the holding.[8]
The Regulatory Reform Act replaces the conservatorship provisions previously applicable to the enterprise with conservatorship and receivership provisions based generally on federal banking law. The Regulatory Reform Act expands the grounds for which an enterprise may be placed into conservatorship, establishes the grounds for which an enterprise may be placed into receivership, and provides for appointment of FHFA as conservator or receiver.