This afternoon, CUNA submitted comments on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2024.  FHFA is responsible for oversight of the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) System, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac, and together with Fannie Mae, the GSEs). In its Strategic Plan, FHFA proposed 3 strategic goals for its regulation of those entities:

1. Ensuring safe and sound regulated entities through world-class supervision;
2. Fostering competitive, liquid, efficient, and resilient (CLEAR) national housing finance markets; and
3. Positioning the FHFA as a model of operational excellence by strengthening the workforce and infrastructure.  

In the comment letter, CUNA expresses strong support for the FHFA’s strategic goals, and points out where they overlap with CUNA’s Credit Union Principles for Housing Finance Reform. In addition, we mentioned the benefits credit unions derive from well-functioning and regulated FHLBanks and the GSEs, and  highlighted the strong correlation between their public missions and the mission of credit unions to meet the lending needs of their members and communities.  Specifically, the letter states that FHFA should continue its strong oversight and supervision, ensure that the secondary mortgage market is “open to lenders of all sizes on an equitable basis,” and strengthen its workforce through the recruitment of highly qualified, diverse professionals.