Legal Filings

Legal Filings

CREW Files FOIA Request with FHFA Regarding Communications with Bankers Associations

On June 18, 2012, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), requesting copies of all records from January 1, 2012 to the present reflecting communications between general counsel for the FHFA Mr. Alfred Pollard and his staff, and the American Bankers Association or the California Bankers Association.  The FHFA is a federal agency dedicated to supporting affordable housing and sustaining a stable mortgage market. 

The request follows a letter Mr. Pollard sent to the California State Legislature on May 11, 2012, purportedly expressing the FHFA’s views regarding homeowner legislation pending before the state legislature.  The letter espouses opinions rather similar to those expressed by the California Bankers Association in its official statement on the legislation and appears to promote the interests of the banking industry. CREW hopes the requested records will reveal any influence the bankers associations may have had on Mr. Pollard or the FHFA.