WASHINGTON, D.C. — (RealEstateRama) — The Senate confirmed Mark Calabria as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) –the federal regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – led by acting director Joseph Otting since early January. Calabria, who has served as chief economist for Vice President Mike Pence, was nominated to head the FHFA by the Trump Administration in December 2018.
Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president with the Center for Responsible Lending made the following statement:
As head of the FHFA, Mr. Calabria will have a critical role in shaping the U.S. housing market. CRL encourages Mr. Calabria to implement stronger affordability mandates for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including preserving the enterprises’ affordable housing goals to help ensure fair lending to underserved groups. FHFA must also maintain pooling of credit risk and preserve the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Moreover, CRL encourages Mr. Calabria to eliminate excessive risk-based pricing, including loan level price adjustments, that prevents many credit worthy borrowers from accessing conventional mortgage loans.
Moving forward, Mr. Calabria’s plan for the FHFA should include advancing housing finance reforms that will promote access to safe and affordable mortgages for borrowers of color and low- to-moderate income communities, as well as ensuring equity for all credit worthy families and lenders of every size. Now is not the time to reverse course. Average Americans continue to struggle with securing affordable rental housing and homeownership.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Vincenza Previte at 
