Duty to Serve Archives

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 mandates that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a ‘Duty to Serve’ three traditionally underserved markets of:

Rural Housing
Manufactured Housing
Affordable Housing Preservation
The GSEs are tasked with increasing liquidity and investment capital in these markets.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Proposed Rule on Duty to Serve on December 15, 2015. Comments to the Rule were due on March 17, 2016.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Can Again Make Equity Investments in LIHTCs

November 17, 2017/in Policy Duty to Serve

Affordable rental housing development has regained two important sources of financing with the November 16, 2017 announcement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be allowed limited re-entry into the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) market as equity investors. Most of their investments, FHFA director Mel Watt said, will be used to facilitate transactions that support underserved markets and complement their Duty to Serve (DTS) requirements.

The DTS obligation requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make special efforts to serve three affordable housing priorities: rural housing, affordable housing preservation, and manufactured housing. LIHTC investments can be used to construct new affordable rental housing or to preserve existing rentals.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be subject to an annual investment limit of $500 million each, less than a 5 percent market share for each. Within this funding cap, any investments above $300 million in a given year are required to be in areas that have been identified by FHFA as markets that have difficulty attracting investors. These investments are designed to preserve affordable housing, support mixed-income housing, provide supportive housing, or meet other affordable housing objectives.

HAC has been among the many stakeholders supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s return to the LIHTC investment market.

Duty to Serve Final Rule Issued

December 14, 2016/in Policy Duty to Serve

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a final rule to implement the Duty to Serve provisions which require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to serve three specified underserved markets – manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural housing – by improving the distribution and availability of mortgage financing in a safe and sound manner for residential properties that serve very low-, low- and moderate-income families.

Visit FHFA.gov/DTS for the press release, final rule, fact sheet, public listening session details, timeline and more.

HAC Will provide a summary of the Duty to Serve Rule soon.

Stakeholder Webinar

FHFA will provide a high-level overview of the final rule and answer stakeholder questions via webinar on Monday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. ET.

You may submit questions in advance by emailing DutyToServeStakeholders@FHFA.gov with “webinar question” in the subject line. Please submit your questions by COB Thursday, Dec. 15.

Materials Posted: Duty to Serve And What it Means for Rural America (Webinar)

February 18, 2016/in Event Updates Duty to Serve

Materials Posted:

Introduction | Power Point Presentation (22 MB) | Webinar Recording | Mapping Utility

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) is convening an interactive e-learning to assist housing providers and policymakers better understand the Duty to Serve Rule, and what it may mean for Rural America. The session is also intended to help inform comments to the Duty to Serve Rule.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 mandates that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a ‘Duty to Serve’ three traditionally underserved markets of:

Rural Housing
Manufactured Housing
Affordable Housing Preservation

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is currently accepting comments on how to implement the Duty to Serve Rule. The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) is convening an interactive e-learning to assist housing providers and policymakers better understand the Duty to Serve Rule, and what it may mean for Rural America. The session is also intended to help inform comments to the Duty to Serve Rule.

While all three underserved markets extremely are important, this particular session will primarily focus on the Rural Housing component of Duty To Serve (but the other areas for comment will also be discussed).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has re-issued a proposed rule on Duty To Serve.

December 15, 2015/in Announcements Duty to Serve

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has re-issued a proposed rule on Duty To Serve. Through HERA, GSEs have a ‘duty to serve’ traditionally underserved markets of rural, preservation, and manufactured housing. Comments are due in 90 days.

Notice of Duty to Serve Comments

September 18, 2009/in Announcements Duty to Serve

HAC Notice of Duty to Serve comments

The Housing Assistance Council’s comments on the notice of the Duty To Serve Underserved Markets for Enterprises; Proposed Rule. 12 CFR Part 1282, RIN 2590-AA27 are available below.

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Posted: September 18, 2009

If you have problems accessing any of the material on this page, contact Janice Clark at HAC, janice@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.