SAN DIEGO-Experts argue that theGSEs are needed since they play such a significant role inmultifamily financing. MBA Chairman-Elect E.J.Burke recently toldthe Senate Banking Committee that lawmakers and regulators must craft along-term plan for multifamily housingthat ensures a role for both privatecapital and the federal government. At the same hearing,Committee Chairman Tim Johnson noted the important role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Macin the multifamily housing market andcautioned that broad access to credit must continue to be availableas GSE reform moves forward.

Closer to home, Gerson Law Firm APC closed morethan $100 million in commercial real estate loans in September onGSE lender engagements, plus additional amounts for other lenderfinancings in which the firm was representing lenders orborrowers. Gordon Gerson, managing partner of the firm, tellsGlobeSt.com, “People who need rental housing should not be subjectto the harsh effects of capitalism, and thus the case for thecontinued role for GSEs in multifamily housing. Stability in thehousing market means stability in multifamily finance. If you takethe GSEs out of their traditional role, it could rocket out ofcontrol.”

Gerson says that housing—particularly affordablehousing—is a core American value and, as such, should beprotected by government entities. “Affordable rental housing is asmuch a part of the American Dream as single-family housing.”