The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) was an agency within the
Department of Housing and Urban Development of the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. It was charged with ensuring the capital adequacy and financial safety and soundness of two
government sponsored enterprise
A government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) is a type of financial services corporation created by the United States Congress. Their intended function is to enhance the flow of credit to targeted sectors of the economy, to make those segments of the ...
s—the
Federal National Mortgage Association
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the Ne ...
(
Fannie Mae
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...
) and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.[Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (or FHEFSSA, , title XIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, , Oct. 28, 1992, , ''et seq.''). The Act established the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise ...]
.
OFHEO was managed by a director, appointed by the president and ratified by the Senate. The final director was
James B. Lockhart III
James B. Lockhart III (born 1946) is an American U.S. Navy officer, business executive, and, since September 2009, Vice Chairman of WL Ross & Co. LLC, which manages $9 billion of private equity investments, a hedge fund and a Mortgage Recovery Fun ...
, assuming the position during a time of crisis as acting director April 28, 2006, when nominated, confirmed to the post on June 15, and sworn in June 26, 2006. The previous Director was
Armando Falcon, Jr, confirmed September 29, 1999, and forced to resign February 4, 2003, over the release of critical oversight reports
Testimony of Armando Falcon, The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, April 9, 2010
/ref> However, the White House withdrew the nomination of his successor, and he served as director beyond the end of his term as provided by law.
On July 30, 2008, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
The United States Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 () (commonly referred to as HERA) was designed primarily to address the subprime mortgage crisis. It authorized the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee up to $300 billion in ne ...
combined OFHEO and the Federal Housing Finance Board
The Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1989 in the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis to take over management of ...
(FHFB) to form the new Federal Housing Finance Agency
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is an independent federal agency in the United States created as the successor regulatory agency of the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), an ...
(FHFA). OHFEO director James B. Lockhart III
James B. Lockhart III (born 1946) is an American U.S. Navy officer, business executive, and, since September 2009, Vice Chairman of WL Ross & Co. LLC, which manages $9 billion of private equity investments, a hedge fund and a Mortgage Recovery Fun ...
oversaw the agency at its conception, but departed after less than a year.
OFHEO also published the house price index
A house price index (HPI) measures the price changes of residential housing as a percentage change from some specific start date (which has an HPI of 100). Methodologies commonly used to calculate an HPI are hedonic regression (HR), simple moving ...
.
See also
* Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations
CFR Title 12 – Banks and Banking is one of 50 titles composing the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and contains the principal set of rules and regulations issued by federal agencies regarding banks and banking. It is available ...
* Stephen Douglas Johnson
References
External links
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight website
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
in the Federal Register
The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development agencies
Government agencies established in 1992
Defunct agencies of the United States government
Organizations disestablished in 2008
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