A close associate of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration’s top housing regulator, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to one of the agency’s major competitors, according to internal communications.

The disclosure raised alarm among senior officials at the government-backed mortgage giant, who warned the move could expose the company to allegations of collusion or rate-fixing.

Emails show Fannie Mae executives were unsettled by what one described as the “very problematic” release of proprietary data by Lauren Smith, the firm’s head of marketing, who was acting on Pulte’s behalf.