Tag Archives: FHFA

Letters to Regulators: Letter Telling Fannie and Freddie to Finance Affordable Housing, Not Displacement

AFREF and 34 allies sent a letter regarding the Safety and Soundness Act, which requires FHFA to establish annual housing goals for mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises). This letter supports the proposal’s move towards a methodology that focuses on the percentage, not number, of affordable housing units financed by the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). However, the proposal fails to hold the GSEs to adequate lending standards and refine what counts as affordable housing units. 

This letter seeks policy reforms that will prevent GSEs from financing loans that contribute to displacement and substandard living conditions for low income tenants and tenants of color. It also objects to FHFA goals being set at levels that are below recent performance by the Enterprises.

A pair of hands writing on paper with a pen

Letters to Regulators: Letter to FHFA in Response to Request for Comment on Policy Statement on Fair Lending

AFREF joined several other civil rights, consumer advocacy and housing organizations in sending a letter a comment letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) in response to their request for comment on their Policy Statement on Fair Lending (“Policy Statement”). The letter emphasizes that FHFA’s fair lending oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must ensure access to mortgage credit on fair terms for all creditworthy borrowers, regardless of their race, gender, national origin, disability, familial status, or other protected characteristics, which is essential to closing the homeownership and wealth gaps created by exclusionary federal housing policies and ongoing discrimination in the housing marketplace.

a green forest with a tornado looming

Letters to Regulators: Letter in Response to FHFA RFI Expressing Concerns About Climate and Natural Risk Management

AFREF and 17 organizations sent a letter in response to FHFA’s RFI on climate and natural risk management detailing our concerns about the disproportionate impact of climate change and natural disasters on borrowers and communities of color and low and moderate income neighborhoods. We provided recommendations for next steps on FHFA’s work on mitigating climate risk and urged FHFA to make sure climate risk mitigation efforts do not cause inadvertent harm to the communities who are already most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change and who face the most challenges in accessing and sustaining homeownership.

the front side of an apartment building

Letters to Regulators: Joint Letter to FHFA, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac on the need to notify tenants of applicable protections during COVID-19

AFR Ed Fund and 59 other organizations sent a letter to FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac asking them to provide ways for tenants to be able to determine whether their homes qualify for additional protections as a result of their landlord’s forbearance so that they can plan accordingly and protect themselves from eviction and other consequences.