Daniel Mudd on Foreclosure

This past February Daniel Mudd, the recently ousted president of the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), gave a speech to the National Association of Homebuilders in which he laid out plans to "weather the housing market crisis" (see below and the following three pages). Mudd told homebuilders that Fannie Mae's "prudent steps" to keep the mortgage market "stable, liquid and affordable" included "cutting our dividend" to investors (see Page 3). Mudd didn't mention his own sacrifices (according to the Washington Post, one month earlier the board had stopped paying his $100,000-per-year country club dues), but he predicted that the increase in defaults and foreclosures would take "at least another tough year to get through" (see Page 4).

PRINTDISCUSSE-MAILRSSRECOMMEND...SINGLE PAGE

FacebookMySpace Mixx Digg Reddit del.icio.us Furl Ma.gnolia SphereStumbleUponCLOSE

Mudd explained that although the goal was "avoiding foreclosure at all costs," once all such efforts were exhausted, "our real estate team comes in and prepares to put the house on the market" (see Page 2). This mitigation effort, Mudd said, helped resell more than half the foreclosed properties that "came into our inventory" in 2007. The remainder "sit on the market driving down local home prices and property values" (see Page 3).

Share this article on Buzz

In his talk, Mudd stressed the importance of giving defaulting mortgage holders who face foreclosure "an exit with dignity" (below). On Sept. 7, the federal conservator who took over Fannie Mae foreclosed on Mudd. Mudd has hired politically powerful Washington attorney Bob Barnett to negotiate his severance, which is expected to be a very dignified $9 million.

Send ideas for Hot Document to .

PRINTE-MAILRECOMMEND...RSS

FacebookMySpace Mixx Digg Reddit del.icio.us Furl Ma.gnolia SphereStumbleUponCLOSE

SPONSORED CONTENT

• Madoff 'n' Jeff
  Bernie Madoff and his accountant made the oddest of couples.
  Bonnie Goldstein | Dec. 17, 2008
• A Hold on Holder?
  Senators squabble over how soon to hold the confirmation hearing for Obama's attorney-general nominee.
  Bonnie Goldstein | Dec. 15, 2008
• Layoff Spin
  An ad firm accidentally leaks its "restructuring communications plan."
  Bonnie Goldstein | Dec. 8, 2008
• Search for more Hot Document articles
• Subscribe to the Hot Document RSS feed
• View our complete Hot Document archive

• Sucked Into the Malware Trap
• Putin’s New, Lame Cold War
• Irresponsibly Suicidal

• Sign Up for The Root’s Day of Service
• The Gifted Ones
• Bailout for The Common Man

• Identity Theft Insurance
• Congressional Entrepreneurs
• Your New Small Business Committee Chairwoman

• People In Commercial Having More Fun With Camera Than Humanly Possible
• Bank CEO Requests No Bonus
• Tim Gunn Takes Wizards Shopping For Less Hideous Uniforms

• Obama: 'Generation' of Lost Earnings Possible
• Holiday Retail Sales Disappoint
• Advisers May Trump the Cabinet

• Obama Has Big Plans for Mideast Peace Process
• An Interview with Barack Obama
• Israel: Why Humans form Primal Attachments to Land