William J. Pulte was recently confirmed and sworn in as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The new director is the founder of private equity firm Pulte Capital Partners. Director Pulte succeeds Biden administration appointee Sandra L. Thompson as head of the agency.
FHFA oversees the government-sponsored enterprises (the “GSEs”) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and eleven regional Federal Home Loan Banks (“FHLBs”). In one of his first acts as the new director, Pulte removed eight board members from Fannie Mae and six board members from Freddie Mac. Director Pulte has named himself as the chairman of the board for both companies and has so far appointed four new board members.
Director Pulte has also begun making broad changes to some of FHFA’s existing policies, including the rescission of numerous advisory bulletins and directives implemented under the prior administration. One of the first changes made by Director Pulte was announced in Decision No. 2025-145, which terminates the GSEs’ sponsorship of special purpose credit programs (“SPCPs”). The SPCPs were designed to assist economically or socially disadvantaged groups by allowing lenders to offer certain credit flexibilities, such as special pricing for certain loans. The programs, created through the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, allowed certain first-time borrowers to bring in lower down payments and credit scores. In his directive, Director Pulte stated that the FHFA “has determined that the current level of support for SPCPs is inappropriate for regulated entities in conservatorship.”
Also of note is an order signed by Director Pulte on March 24, 2025, to rescind Advisory Bulletin No. 2024-06, Regulated Entity Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices Compliance. The order states that the FHFA is not the primary administrator of unfair or deceptive acts or practices (“UDAP”) statutory provisions, so the agency is rescinding the advisory bulletin to reduce potential conflict or confusion over interpretation of UDAP provisions established by acts of Congress, such as in the Dodd-Frank Act.
Director Pulte announced another order to rescind tenant protections that were set to go into effect for multifamily loan agreements beginning in February 2025. The new policies would have added requirements for a 30-day notice of rent increase, a 30-day notice of lease expiration and a 5-day grace period for late rent payments to the standard GSE multifamily loan agreements. The order to rescind the new policy states that the new requirements would increase burdens for multifamily lenders and property owners, when state and local government already have existing protection laws.
As of April 1, 2025, all new orders signed by Director Pulte have been posted on the social media platform “X” but have not yet been added to the News Releases on the FHFA website.
