Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte is again targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, this time filing criminal referrals with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over alleged insurance fraud.
The referrals were sent to two U.S. attorneys — Jason Reding Quinones of the Southern District of Florida and Andrew Boutros of the Northern District of Illinois — who were each nominated by President Donald Trump.
Pulte alleges that James misrepresented the use of two properties to insurers, including Universal Property Insurance in Florida and Allstate Insurance Company in Illinois. The outlet MS Now first reported on the matter based on the referrals.
“It appears Ms. James made representations that the house would be occupied by a single adult, with no children. Instead, according to the post, she knew the house was actually occupied by four people — three children and her niece,” Pulte said, referring to a social media post made by attorney Mike Davis.
In the Florida referral, Pulte also alleged that James indicated the property would be occupied for five months of the year, when it was in fact occupied year-round by her niece.
The DOJ began a criminal investigation in May 2025 related to James’s alleged mortgage fraud, which followed a criminal referral by Pulte in April. But a federal judge dismissed the criminal case in November, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed and therefore lacked legal authority to present the case to a grand jury.
Abbe D. Lowell, counsel for James, pushed back strongly in a statement: “Frustrated by repeated failures, where judges and grand juries have rejected their attempts to charge Attorney General James, Trump and his political enablers keep abusing their power to pursue a vendetta against her by trying to rename, refile, and repeat baseless allegations.
“They continue this improper revenge campaign instead of helping bring down the rising cost of living in this country. These desperate tactics will fail — just as every previous attempt has failed — and exposes an Administration that has abandoned its responsibility to the American people in favor of petty political payback,” Lowell added.
The DOJ and FHFA did not immediately return HousingWire‘s requests for comment.