October 9, 2009 10:27AM # A Bankrupt FHA: It’s Only Money, Part XXVI By [Doug Bandow](https://www.cato.org/people/doug-bandow) --- SHARE Think the bailouts are over? Think again! The Federal Housing Administration could become the next Fannie Mae. [Reports the *New York Times*:](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/business/09fha.html?_r=2&ref=global&utm_source=Comprehensive&utm_campaign=2664791242-In_brief_9_23-2009&utm_medium=email) > Problems at the [Federal Housing Administration](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_housing_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org), which guarantees mortgages with low down payments, are becoming so acute that some experts warn the agency might need a federal bailout. > > > Running questions about the F.H.A.’s future — underscored by interviews with policy makers, analysts and home buyers — came to the fore on Thursday on Capitol Hill. In testimony before a House subcommittee, the F.H.A. commissioner, David H. Stevens, assured lawmakers that his agency would not need a bailout and that it was managing its risks. > > > But he acknowledged that some 20 percent of F.H.A. loans insured last year — and as many as 24 percent of those from 2007 — faced serious problems including foreclosure, offering a preview of a forthcoming audit of the agency’s finances. We’ve already spent about $13 trillion bailing out banks, financial institutions, automakers, insurance companies, and most everyone else. So what’s another few billion dollars among friends? As they say, it’s only money! ##### Related Tags [Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).