CUNA generally supports the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) thorough enforcement of fair lending laws but urges the agency to ensure this monitoring and enforcement does not generate costly new requirements or increased regulatory burden. CUNA submitted its comments Tuesday in response to the FHFA’s policy statement on fair lending.

FHFA is the primary regular for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs), and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

“Credit unions should not be in a position of being torn between serving all their members and the necessity of compliance with GSE requirements and access to the secondary market,” the letter reads. “Substantial fair lending oversight of the GSE and FHLBank policies is necessary to ensure that the goals of fair lending laws can be met at all levels of our housing finance system. As the FHFA considers monitoring and information gathering related to its fair lending oversight, it must ensure that it does not create additional data reporting burdens for lenders.”

CUNA also called for the FHFA to recognize existing oversight in the form of fair lending, consumer protection and safety and soundness examinations already conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, NCUA, and other prudential regulatory agencies.