The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) put out a call for comments on the Enterprises’ (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s) proposed 2023 Duty to Serve Plan modifications. Both Enterprises proposed cutting a variety of their loan purchase goals in rural areas, citing market conditions as the justification. HAC pushed back on these proposed cuts in our comments. Specifically, HAC made in following points in our comment:

• HAC is generally agnostic as to which section of Freddie Mac’s Duty to Serve plan USDA Section 515 purchases fall under, but strongly supports their continued inclusion and tangible results. We support mainlining the Section 515 purchases currently included in the rural section of the plan because they focus on rural-targeting of properties.
• HAC opposes cuts to loan purchase goals in high-needs rural regions and from small, rural financial institutions.
• HAC opposes cuts to loan purchase goals for manufactured housing communities.
• HAC supports Fannie Mae’s new proposed objective to better serve the manufactured housing needs of Native communities.
• HAC support permitting the Enterprises to make equity investments in CDFIs – a decision which relies on approval from the FHFA.

HAC DTS Plan Modification Comments 12.06.23 FINAL