Donald Trump and Greenland No one seems certain how to take the news that the President Trump is interested in buying Greenland. Is it a joke? Is it even possible? Would Mexico pay for it? Though numerous Greenlandic politicians have weighed in to unequivocally rebuff Donald Trump’s reported interest in acquiring their homeland, the president […]
Big changes are coming to the EB-5 program
President Donald Trump (Credit: Getty Images and Mango Map) The Trump administration released new rules governing the EB-5 cash-for-visas program. And many in the real estate industry believe the changes will tighten the spigot on a source of cheap capital that’s partly fueled the post-recession development boom. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday released […]
Trump’s move to take Fannie and Freddie private could mean higher mortgage costs
FHFA director Mark Calabria (Credit: Federal Housing Finance Agency and iStock) The Trump administration’s plan to return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private ownership, which the president has called a “pretty urgent” issue, may come with some politically inconvenient truths for 2020. Mark Calabria, the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, insists that […]
Mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to return to private control
President Donald Trump (Credit: Getty Images) More than a decade after the government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Trump administration is finalizing a plan to return the mortgage guarantors to private shareholder membership. That would be a boon for investors who have been banking on the move. The proposal could be […]
Chicago banker accused of bailing Manafort out of foreclosure in exchange for Trump administration post
Paul Manafort and Stephen Calk (Credit: Getty Images) The chairman of a Chicago bank who allegedly bailed Paul Manafort out of foreclosure in exchange for a high-level post in the Trump administration was charged with bribery by federal prosecutors on Thursday. Stephen Calk, chairman of Federal Savings Bank, pressured his bank to lend Manafort $16 […]
Going private: Fed housing finance chief details plan to end Fannie-Freddie oversight
FHFA chief Mark Calabria and the Fannie Mae headquarters in Washington DC (Credit: Carr Properties) President Trump has not been shy about his desire to end the federal conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now, he appears to have someone at the helm of the Federal Housing Finance Agency ready to put the plan in […]