Lawmakers oppose FHFA borrower subsidizing rules

A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), noting opposition to the agency re-writing the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family pricing framework.

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U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) joined 16 colleagues in signing off on correspondence to FHFA Director Sandra Thompson expressing concerns with the proposals, stating that it inverts the government-sponsored entities (GSEs -Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) risk financing structure to decrease mortgage rates for riskier individuals with low credit scores and forcibly raise rates for those with higher scores.

“This proposed rule by the Biden Administration is a gross injustice that penalizes hardworking Americans who are financially responsible,” Tillis said. “This is yet another example of President Biden pushing far-left policies that ignore basic economic principles and will make the American dream harder to obtain for many hardworking families. I will continue to work with my colleagues to do everything in our power to stop this absurd proposal.”

Within the letter to Thompson, the lawmakers said the FHFA has advanced a number of policy proposals and changes that seek to social-engineer the domestic housing market in ways that increase riskiness and promote discrimination.

“The Equitable Housing Finance Plans developed by the GSEs under the direction of FHFA sought to create a class of housing subsidies based on the color of one’s skin, despite the clear unconstitutionality of this concept,” the legislators wrote. “Now, FHFA seems intent to go further and enshrine a system that willfully ignores the realities of creditworthiness in an effort to push Americans into homes they may be ill-suited to afford. The fact that a proposal flaunting credit risk is being openly pushed by FHFA just a decade-and-a-half after the housing-led 2008 financial crisis is staggering.”