Press releases

Zillow Hosts Conversation About Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Reform With Sens. Bob Corker and Mark R. Warner

Video of Conversation Scheduled for Release Tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m. EDT on Zillow Blog, www.zillowblog.com

Sep 18, 2013

SEATTLE, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow® Chief Economist Stan Humphries earlier this week hosted a conversation and Q&A session on the proposed reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark R. Warner, D-Va., co-sponsors of Senate Bill 1217, the Housing Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013.  

A video of the event, entitled Zillow Presents: A Conversation About GSE Reform with Sens. Bob Corker and Mark Warner, Facilitated by Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries, will be released tomorrow at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT on the Zillow Blog. Follow the discussion on social media by using the hashtag #GSEreform.

The Corker-Warner bill would replace government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a modernized system that aims to preserve market liquidity and protect taxpayers from future economic downturns.

Co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Dean Heller, R-Nev., Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Kay Hagan, D-N.C., Mark Kirk, R-Ill., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

"It's a great time to host this conversation, and I'm thrilled Zillow is able to do it," Humphries said. "Now is the time to be talking GSE reform. The housing market recovery is moving forward on its own two feet, and we need to move past the temporary fixes that were put in place during the crisis and create a functional and sustainable mortgage finance system. It's now a matter of figuring out how and when to make those changes."

Last month, Zillow hosted President Barack Obama to discuss housing issues. During the event, Zillow Presents: A Better Bargain for Responsible Homeowners — President Obama Answers Your Questions, the president touched on the need for GSE reform. Additionally, of the thousands of questions submitted by consumers for the president, 12 percent talked about Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

About Zillow, Inc.

Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) operates the leading real estate and home-related marketplaces on mobile and the Web, with a complementary portfolio of brands and products that help people find vital information about homes, and connect with the best local professionals. Zillow's brands serve the full life cycle of owning and living in a home: buying, selling, renting, financing, remodeling and more. In addition, Zillow offers a suite of tools and services to help local real estate, mortgage, rental and home improvement professionals manage and market their businesses. Welcoming nearly 64 million monthly unique users in August 2013, the Zillow, Inc. portfolio includes Zillow.com®, Zillow MobileZillow Mortgage MarketplaceZillow RentalsZillow Digs™, Postlets®, Diverse Solutions®, Agentfolio™, Mortech®, HotPads™ and StreetEasy®. The company is headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow.com, Zillow, Postlets, Diverse Solutions, Mortech and StreetEasy are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.
Agentfolio, HotPads and Digs are trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

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SOURCE Zillow, Inc.

For further information: Katie Curnutte, katiec@zillow.com