HousingWireHousingWire
Freddie Mac on Tuesday announced the appointment of James Whitlinger as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Jan. 1. Whitlinger has served as interim CFO since Christian Lown’s departure in June 2024.
“It’s with great pleasure that we announce Jim Whitlinger as the company’s new chief financial officer,” Freddie Mac CEO Diana Reid said in a statement. “Jim is a proven leader with more than 30 years of financial management and accounting experience. As a 10-year veteran of Freddie Mac, he is well positioned to assume the CFO role and maintain the strength and continuity of our Finance functions.”
Whitlinger previously served as Freddie Mac’s senior vice president and single-family CFO since 2014. With a career in the financial services industry that spans three-plus decades, he also previously was a senior vice president at Univest Bank and Trust Co. and was an executive vice president and CFO at GMAC ResCap Inc.
“I am excited and humbled to be chosen as Freddie Mac’s next CFO,” Whitlinger said in a statement. “I thank Freddie Mac’s Board and the company’s outstanding senior leadership team for their confidence, and I look forward to leading the talented and hardworking individuals who make up our Finance Division.”
Amid the leadership change at the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced a new final rule to establish affordable housing goals for the loan purchases of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2025 through 2027.
The finalized goals focus on equitable housing access and require 25% of Fannie’s and Freddie’s single-family mortgages to support borrowers earning less than 80% of the area median income, down from 28% in a prior proposal.
Other notable changes include a reduction in very low-income purchase goals and an increase in minority census tract subgoals. The final rule is scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 27, or 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register.
Concerns also loom about the future of GSE conservatorship under the new Trump administration. Last week, the U.S. Treasury and the FHFA announced an agreement to amend the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs) with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a key step in the potential privatization of the agencies.
