WASHINGTON –  A bipartisan group of Senate Banking Committee members including U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Bob Corker (R-TN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Dean Heller (R-NV) urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today to expand and better define the development of the Credit Risk Transfer programs, which shift credit risk from the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private sector.

“The credit risk transfers are a vehicle for moving the housing market forward by attracting private sector investors, improving access to credit, and reducing taxpayer risk,” wrote the Senators in a letter to FHFA Director Mel Watt. “As such, we ask that you prioritize work with the Enterprises on transactions designed specifically to push out first loss credit risk to the market, and to encourage transparency for investors and the public so that we can all better judge how these transactions impact returns to the Enterprises, costs to the taxpayer, and effects to the health of the broader housing finance system.”

Sen. Warner, who spearheaded today’s letter, is a leader in efforts to reform the housing finance system. In 2014, along with Sen. Corker, Sen. Warner sponsored comprehensive housing finance reform that passed the Banking Committee, 13-9.

Full text of the letter is below and a signed PDF is available here.