I was out of the country during the holidays, so it wasn’t until late last week that I caught up on the Treasury Department’s decisions regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Talk about a New Year’s surprise: For one, the GSEs are no longer required to rein in the size of their already gargantuan $1.5 trillion portfolios. And the $400 billion cap on the Treasury’s bailout subsidy? That’s been suspended for the next three years. Most folks in real estate seemed bolstered by the news, which could potentially give the behemoth backers of mortgage debt greater flexibility when it comes to modifying the terms of their loans and investments.

For the short-term, I agree—the moves allow Fannie and Freddie to continue operating without risking a fire-sale to meet arbitrary caps and limits. But for the long-term, experts say these decisions raise a lot of questions. And I would agree. Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Washington, D.C.-based research firm Federal Financial Analytics, lamented in a Wall Street Journal article that the decision would promote the nationalization of the country’s mortgage finance business. And she’s got a valid concern, which has me wondering: What worries you about this recent news? Do you think the Treasury made the right call? Drop me a line and let me know.