Issued earlier this month, a proposed rule from the Federal Housing Finance Agency considers updates to the Agency’s Enterprise housing goals. The rule applies to mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for housing affordable to low-income and very low-income families. The Enterprises’ current goals were established in November 2012. The proposed rule outlines the following provisions for 2015-2017:
- Benchmark levels for the single-family housing goals, including increased benchmarks for both home purchase mortgages on properties in low-income areas and mortgage refinancings on properties with low-income borrowers;
- Alternative approaches to determining whether an Enterprise has met the single-family housing goals;
- A new benchmark goal for the number of affordable rental units in small multifamily housing properties; and
- A new reporting requirement compelling the Enterprises to disclose more detailed information regarding their purchases of single-family rental housing, including affordability information.
The proposed rule also provides for ancillary updates, such as tweaking definitions and clarifying existing FHFA regulations.
Interested parties may comment through October 28, 2014. To comment, please visit the FHFA webpage or the Federal eRulemaking Portal.