WASHINGTON — House Democrats who hope to see reductions in mortgage principal as a way to stimulate the economy are turning up the heat on the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
At a congressional hearing in November, acting FHFA director Edward DeMarco told Democratic Rep. John Tierney that his agency could provide Congress with an analysis that shows why principal reductions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages are a worse outcome for taxpayers than foreclosures.
But the FHFA has yet to provide that analysis, according to Tierney and Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
So now those two Democrats are asking Republican Chairman Darrell Issa to issue a subpoena that would require the agency to turn over its analysis to Congress.
"We requested that this information be provided by December 9, 2011, but Mr. DeMarco has failed to provide even a single document," the Democrats wrote Wednesday in a letter to Issa.
A spokeswoman for Issa did not immediately respond to a request for comment. House Republicans have generally been supportive of DeMarco and hostile to the idea of principal reductions.
Also Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Brad Miller sent his own letter directly to DeMarco, asking for him to provide the same documents to Congress.
"I assume the analysis was completed before your decision that the GSEs would not pursue principal modification to mitigate losses," Miller wrote. "I do not understand, therefore, the continued delay in disclosing the methodology and results of your analysis."
An FHFA spokeswoman declined to comment on the letters.
