Today’s announcement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the U.S. Department of the Treasury that they have suspended limits on so-called “higher-risk loans” made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an essential step towards increasing opportunities for those who have been denied access to the American dream of homeownership. The so-called “limits on loans with higher-risk characteristics” were unnecessary when they were instituted and only served to prevent credit-worthy homebuyers, disproportionately people of color, from becoming homeowners.
Allowing the Enterprises to purchase these loans will not risk repeating the errors of the subprime mortgage crisis. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report definitively stated that the subprime crisis was not caused by affordable housing loans made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Further, today, the Qualified Mortgage Rule protects consumers from toxic mortgage products. The proof of this is that mortgage performance is better today than at any time in the past 20 years, according to research by CoreLogic and research by the Urban Institute.
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The National Housing Conference has been defending our American Home since 1931. #OurAmericanHome @natlhousingconf@davidmdworkin
About NHC: The National Housing Conference has been defending the American Home since 1931. Everyone in America should have equal opportunity to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community. NHC convenes and collaborates with our diverse membership and the broader housing and community development sectors to advance our policy, research and communications initiatives to effect positive change at the federal, state and local levels. Politically diverse and nonpartisan, NHC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.