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FANNIE MAE CHIEF AND C.F.O. OUSTED UNDER PRESSURE
Bowing to pressure from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie Mae's board of directors has ousted Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines as well as Chief Financial Officer J. Timothy Howard due to their roles in the company's accounting troubles. After learning that several board members wanted to keep Raines in power despite confirmation of Fannie's accounting violations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, OFHEO ordered a management shakeup based on the firm's inability to meet required capital levels. The regulator also forced the board to separate the chairman and chief executive positions, making board member Stephen Ashley the acting chairman and Vice Chairman and COO Daniel Mudd the acting CEO. Fannie Mae executive Robert Levin, meanwhile, will replace Howard as interim CFO. Experts believe Raines' removal from Fannie Mae may mark the end of his political and business career.

TEXAS AG SAYS R.E.COMMISSION CAN ESTABLISH MINIMUM SERVICES
In a blow to some limited services real estate practitioners, the Texas Attorney General has ruled that the Texas Real Estate Commission has the authority to define what minimum services a real estate brokerage must offer to be licensed. In the ruling, the AG approved revisions to state regulations proposed by the Texas Association of Realtors®. The regulations require real estate brokerages to at least: 1) accept and present to the principal offers and counter-offers to buy, sell or lease the principals property or property the principal seeks to buy or lease; 2) assist the principal in developing, communicating and presenting offers, counter-offers and notices that relate to the offers and counter-offers; and, 3) answer the principal’s questions relating to offers, counter-offers and notices. Discount and fee-for-service brokerages often charge additional fees for rendering those services.

ALLARD NAMED TO SEAT ON APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist named Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) to take the appropriations seat being vacated by Ben Nighthorse Campbell, whose retirement announcement left some Colorado lawmakers worried the State could fall behind on federal funding. The Appropriations Committee is extremely powerful, writing 13 appropriations bills a year which include funding for everything from military bases to housing projects, hospitals and special projects. In nearly a decade on the committee, Campbell used the seat to earmark funds for the Animas-La Plata water project in southern Colorado, hospitals and universities, projects for Colorado counties and cities, and other projects. Allard already has a seat on the Budget Committee, which sets overall spending levels. His appointment to the Appropriations Committee gives him even more clout.

FHA ANNOUNCES HIGHER MAXIMUM MORTGAGE LIMITS FOR 2005
In Mortgagee Letter 2004-46 of December 23, 2004 the Federal Housing Administration announced its new maximum mortgage limits for single family loans FHA will endorse on or after January 1, 2005. The National Housing Act provides that the mortgage limit for any area shall be set at 95% of the median house price for the area, except that the FHA mortgage limit in any area cannot exceed 87% of the Freddie Mac limit. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight set $359,650 as the top single-family limit for Freddie Mac for the year 2005. The top FHA limit for a single-family home in "high-cost" areas will be $312,895 in 2005. Mortgagee Letter 2004-46 contains two attachments that specify maximum mortgage limits for FHA endorsed loans in all areas of the country.