Freddie Mac’s Rich Martinez on the Agency’s Response to the Pandemic

In September 2019, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) overhauled its system of multifamily caps, simplifying its structure and setting caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of $100 billion each for the next five quarters. Two months later, Freddie Mac asked Rich Martinez to play a major role in guiding production volume, appointing him senior vice president, multifamily production and sales. Just three weeks later, patient zero, the first person diagnosed with COVID-19, fell ill. 

In retrospect, Freddie Mac’s decision to choose an industry veteran like Martinez — he has been with the agency for over thirty years — proved prescient. This was just one in a series of decisions that have enabled Freddie Mac to navigate the crisis — and to find itself, almost a year later, zeroing in on its caps.