Group of affordable housing organizations makes the call
A group of affordable housing organizations has called on the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to compel government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to improve their “Duty to Serve” (DTS) proposals before approving them.
The DTS regulation requires both GSEs to facilitate a secondary market for mortgages on housing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in three underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing.
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Earlier this year, the GSEs submitted mandatory three-year plans for how they will comply with the DTS regulation. However, a group calling themselves the Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition sent a letter to FHFA acting director Sandra Thomson claiming that the plans “fail to effectively reach those not served or not served well by the conventional mortgage market.”
Members of the coalition include: Center for Community Progress, cdcb, Enterprise Community Partners, Fahe, Grounded Solutions Network, Housing Assistance Council, Housing Partnership Network, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, National Council of State Housing Agencies, National Community Stabilization Trust, National Housing Conference, National Housing Trust, NeighborWorks America, Next Step, Novogradac, Opportunity Finance Network, Prosperity Now, RMI, and ROC USA.
“Solving our housing affordability crisis requires multiple actions by all levels of government and the private sector, and an invigorated role for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is one of them,” said George McCarthy, president of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, convener of the coalition. “The Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition seeks to hold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accountable and uphold their founding purpose: to bring housing finance opportunities to American families not traditionally served by the private market.”
