Pulte Declares 'No Room For Fraud' At Fannie Mae As Agency Fires More Than 100
More than 100 staffers have been fired from Fannie Mae for engaging in unethical conduct over roughly the last 30 days, the agency announced.
“In President Trump’s housing market, there is no room for fraud, mortgage fraud, or any other deceitful act that can jeopardize the safety and soundness of the housing industry,” Bill Pulte, chairman of the Fannie Mae board of directors, said in a statement.
Pulte took over the Federal Housing Finance Agency on March 14 and has wasted little time exercising authority at the agency, which is responsible for overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The more than 100 Fannie Mae employees who were fired, some of whom helped others engage in fraud, had all been let go since Pulte took the helm at the FHFA, he said in a joint statement released with Fannie Mae.
Fannie Mae set aside $752M in funds for credit losses across its entire multifamily business in 2024, up from $495M a year earlier. The agency said in February that it was still vulnerable to approving fraudulent loans and was working to add more due diligence and preventive measures.
“I would like to thank Director Pulte for his empowering of Fannie Mae to root out unethical conduct, including anyone facilitating fraud,” Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar said in a statement.
The government didn’t offer any specific details about the alleged unethical conduct, the exact number of employees and the extent to which any scheme was coordinated. The FHFA and Fannie Mae didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
Efforts to root out fraud at the agencies began last year, with Fannie and Freddie tightening lending standards and Fannie blacklisting some firms as part of an investigation. In November, Fannie named losses from mortgage fraud as its biggest risk factor.
Pulte, a member of the family behind homebuilding giant PulteGroup, has also made staffing changes at senior levels of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the government has effectively managed since the conservatorship program began amid the Global Financial Crisis.
“We are turning around Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, slowly but surely,” Pulte posted to his 3 million followers on X after the official statement was released Tuesday.
Pulte also highlighted the FHFA’s effort to cut staff and achieve goals set out by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in a post made a few hours earlier.
“We exceeded DOGE's expectations at U.S. Federal Housing (FHFA), with an over 25% reduction in the Agency’s active workforce,” he said.
Last month, he ousted eight members of Fannie Mae’s board, appointing four new members and making himself the new chairman. At Freddie Mac, Pulte replaced six board members with three new appointees.
He fired Freddie Mac’s CEO the same week as part of a shake-up of executive leadership that focused on managers in human relations and operations roles.
Analysts, investors and homeowners have closely watched the changes at the agencies as they wait to see whether the White House will move to end the federal government’s oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
President Donald Trump first tried to start the process of ending the regulatory regime during his first term before the pandemic derailed any plans, and his allies have again been pushing for the end of the oversight program since before he was reelected in November.
