Top Housing Regulator in Upheaval as Executives, Employees Put on Leave

Bill Pulte fires 14 members of Fannie and Freddie’s boards of directors and appoints himself chair of both.

This article was originally published on Multifamily Executive.

The Trump administration and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director Bill Pulte fired Freddie Mac CEO Diana Reid on March 20. Freddie Mac president Mike Hutchins has been named interim CEO of the government-sponsored enterprise. Pulte also placed two senior FHFA officials—chief operating officer Gina Cross and human resources director Monica Matthews—on administrative leave and put dozens of agency employees on leave, according to reports from Politico.

The sudden developments add to the upheaval at the independent agency, which regulates Freddie and sister firm Fannie Mae, the government-controlled companies that stand behind about half of the U.S. residential mortgage market. They come as the administration weighs privatizing the giant firms, a decision that could bring a windfall to private investors but that is opposed by many Democrats and others who fear that it could roil the housing finance market.

Pulte, a former private equity executive who hails from one of the most prominent families in American home building, has quickly asserted his grip on the agency since being sworn in [March 14], hollowing out several offices.