The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that it is requesting public input as part of the Agency’s consideration of proposed modifications to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s (the Enterprises) 2018-2020 Underserved Markets Plans (Plans) under the Duty to Serve program.
The Duty to Serve regulation allows an Enterprise to request to modify its Plan at any time. However, FHFA must provide a non-objection to a proposed modification for them to become part of an Enterprise’s Plan. FHFA has determined that public input would be helpful in considering four of Fannie Mae’s twenty-two proposed modifications that would each make a substantial change to the content of its Plan. Freddie Mac has submitted one modification that FHFA considers to be a modest correction and, as a result, FHFA is not seeking public input on this proposal. Enterprise technical edits are not subject to public input or FHFA’s Non-Objection.
FHFA requests public input on the proposed modifications to the 2018-2020 Underserved Markets Plan by Nov. 2, 2018 via the dedicated Duty to Serve page on FHFA’s website at www.FHFA.gov/DTS or via mail to FHFA Division of Housing Mission and Goals, Seventh Floor, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington D.C. 20219.
About Duty to Serve
FHFA issued a final rule on Dec. 13, 2016 to implement the Duty to Serve provisions mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The statute requires the Enterprises to serve three specified underserved markets – manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing – by increasing the liquidity of mortgage investments and improving the distribution of investment capital available for mortgage financing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in these markets.
The rule requires each Enterprise to adopt a three-year Underserved Markets Plan detailing the specific objectives and activities they plan to implement to fulfill this mandate. The activities proposed by the Enterprises will continue to be subject to FHFA review and non-objection to ensure compliance with the Enterprises’ charter acts, safety and soundness standards, and other conservatorship and regulatory requirements. These Plans went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
Learn more at www.FHFA.gov/DTS.