CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle discussed CUNA housing priorities and other issues on a call with Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) Director Mark Calabria. Calabria’s term as FHFA director runs into 2024.

“I thank Director Calabria for his time, and during the call I expressed my appreciation to him for his recent decisions responding to credit union concerns, including over the GSE refinance fee,” Nussle said. “CUNA and Leagues continue to support efforts to ensure the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as maintaining credit union access to the secondary mortgage market.”

In addition to changes to the refinance fee, the FHFA has recently:

• Made amendments to the Treasury-FHFA Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements that include small lender protections;
• Extended recent lending flexibilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CUNA wrote to Congress recently with several housing suggestions, including:

• Extension of loan flexibilities for lenders and borrowers until the COVID-19 crisis has abated;
• Mortgage payment assistance to borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis in any stimulus package;
• inclusion of temporary liquidity assistance for mortgage servicers, if needed, in any stimulus package;
• Ensuring that the secondary market remains open to lenders of all sizes on an equitable basis, without allowing Fannie and Freddie to provide discounts based on volume or otherwise charge higher fees to smaller lenders such as credit unions; and
• Ensuring that the FHFA recapitalization plans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are phased in on a schedule that prevents disruption of the secondary mortgage market such as unexpected or inordinately high fee increases.