FHA will need bailout for $54 billion shortfall says former Fannie exec

"The Federal Housing Administration, the U.S. agency that insures mortgages with low down payments, faces $54 billion more in losses than it can withstand, a former Fannie Mae executive said.

“It appears destined for a taxpayer bailout in the next 24 to 36 months,” said Edward Pinto, a consultant who was chief credit officer from 1987 to 1989 for Fannie Mae, the mortgage- finance company that is now government-run, in testimony prepared for a House committee hearing in Washington tomorrow."