Newsroom

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Wednesday announced a proposed rule to formalize many existing practices and programs related to fair housing and fair lending oversight of its regulated entities, including the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs).

The proposed rule would codify in regulation:

• FHFA’s fair lending oversight requirements for the GSEs – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – and FHLBs;
• the requirements for GSEs to maintain Equitable Housing Finance Plans; and
• the requirements for the GSEs to collect and report homeownership education, housing counseling, and language preference information from the Supplemental Consumer Information Form (SCIF).

It would also expand requirements for the GSEs in fair lending compliance and provide greater oversight and transparency regarding the Equitable Housing Finance Plans.

In June 2022, the GSEs released their Equitable Housing Finance Plans, which identify and address barriers to sustainable housing opportunities and break down goals and action plans to advance equity in housing finance for the next three years. Notably, Freddie Mac's plan includes NAFCU-requested increases in capital for community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs). The FHFA announced earlier this month that it would make updates to the plans for 2023.

As a leader in housing finance reform efforts, NAFCU advocates for credit unions' ability to help provide safe, sustainable, and equitable housing for all communities. The association has consistently stressed the need to protect credit unions’ access to the secondary market, and has also called on FHFA to update the definition of “Community Financial Institution” in the FHLB Act to include credit unions to strengthen the industry’s access to FHLBs.

The proposal will be open for comment for 60 days once it is published in the Federal Register.