Editorial Board
Housing Agency Woes Offer Chance to Fix Market
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For the first time in its 78-year history, the U.S. Federal Housing Administration might a government bailout.
The agency’s most recent audit, released last week, reveals it is burdened by a $16.3 billion deficit in the value of its insurance fund, primarily on loans it backed ahead of the housing market’s collapse. The audit also reveals -- or should remind us -- that the federal government’s role in the mortgage market is outsized and should be reduced.