In response to two articles in the U-T San Diego, Mark Riedy, former president, chief operating officer and a director for Fannie Mae, noted that the failure and losses tied to Fannie, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration all stem from the mortgage market fallout that struck in the wake of excess in the system.

In addition, he said the losses were avoidable had federal regulators and the FHA’s overseers at HUD exercised the political will to rein in unsustainable programs dependent largely on a continuation of the bubble in home prices.

With respect to the future of Fannie and Freddie, each should remain as slimmed down and conservative government agencies restricted to serving low-to-moderate income borrowers, as originally intended. FHA needs a top-to-bottom review and overhaul to put its operations back on a firmer footing, with tighter underwriting standards and profit goals limited to growing reserves to adequate levels.