In Case You Missed It: A Look at Recent National Housing Policy News

Financial Services Committee Chair Introduces Draft Financial Regulatory Reform Bill 

House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensalring (R-TX) recently released a discussion draft of comprehensive financial regulatory reform legislation he intends to introduce soon. The Committee has scheduled a hearing on this legislation, titled the CHOICE Act, for April 26 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Hensarling introduced similar legislation last Congress. The discussion draft includes several provisions that may have affect rules governing HFA bond programs. Specifically, the bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to consider several factors when proposing and finalizing new regulations, including an identification of the need for the regulation and the regulatory objective; an analysis of the adverse impacts regulated entities and other market participants could experience; and a quantitative and qualitative assessment of all anticipated direct and indirect costs and benefits of the regulation.

MBA Offers Detailed GSE Reform Proposal

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released a white paper GSE Reform: Creating a Sustainable, More Vibrant, Secondary Mortgage Market which provides a detailed picture of a reformed and revitalized secondary mortgage market. It also attempts to shed light on two critical areas that have tested past reform efforts - the appropriate transition to the reformed system and the role of the secondary market in advancing an affordable housing strategy.

"This paper not only lays out a detailed end state solution that will work for the residential and multifamily markets, but also the transition steps to accomplish this goal," said Rodrigo Lopez CMB, Executive Chairman of NorthMarq Capital and Chairman of MBA. "We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to find a permanent, sustainable solution to the government's role in housing finance that doesn't repeat the mistakes that led to the crisis."

Report: “CFPB Offers Much-Needed Protection”

The Trump administration entered the White House on a promise to examine and possibly eliminate many Obama-era initiatives, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Trulia wanted to know a few things about the CFPB‒‒namely  where consumers have asked the bureau for help in resolving mortgage disputes, who’s doing the asking, and what types of loans the CFPB deals with‒‒before the CFPB comes under more intense scrutiny or sees its mission changed. What Trulia found was that if the bureau is eliminated or even streamlined , it “could be a blow for thousands of mortgage borrowers who have used the CFPB’s dispute resolution to act as an intermediary in their cases," according to a report issued Wednesday. In its first five years, Trulia reported, CFPB has returned more than $11.8 billion from financial institutions on behalf of 29 million consumers.

The Rewards of Green Financing

Fannie Mae’s multifamily chief explains how dedicating capital to measures that save energy and water pay off, especially in the affordable sector. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says utility costs represent some 15 percent of income for renters with incomes below $15,000, but just one percent for those with incomes of $75,000 or more.
Green financing allows owners to cut operating expenses and extend the life of the property. Over 80 percent of the units we finance are affordable for working families, and greening those buildings can mean lower utility bills for tenants.

Beyond Bricks and Sticks

A weekly digest of current trends in housing and community development. The discussion examines topics from infrastructure to community fabric.

Millennials Desire Affordable Homeownership In the Suburbs

RECAP: The idea that young adults value urban living and the flexibility of renting above all else is a misconception. The Los Angeles Times says that affordability is the main driver of decisions made by millennial households. Reports by Zillow and Harvard found that Millennials want to live in the suburbs, where homeownership makes more financial sense than renting an expensive apartment in an urban center. Nearly half of all millennial homeowners live in the suburbs, compared to 33 percent who live in the city. The idea was if millennials could afford to purchase a home, they would, and did so in low-cost markets like Birmingham, Detroit, Minneapolis and St. Louis.
https://www.probuilder.com/millennials-desire-affordable-homeownership-suburbs

L.A. Finally Has The Money To Fight Homelessness. Here's How Architecture Can Help The Cause

RECAP: In the last two elections, Los Angeles voters overwhelmingly supported both Proposition HHH and Measure H, which combined will permanently rehouse thousands of people living on L.A.’s streets and provide services to keep tens of thousands more from falling into homelessness in the first place. Lingering NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard) combined with soaring housing costs will make acting on the promise of Proposition HHH and Measure H a challenge. It is here where architecture may be able to provide some assistance. Together two USC professors developed “Homes for Hope” — a flexible, affordable and code-compliant solution for bridge housing.  This isn’t permanent supportive housing. It’s a steppingstone — a dignified place to get one’s bearings and stop the free fall.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-ol-homeless-measure-h-architecture-nimby-20170310-story.html

In Chicago and Philadelphia, the Difference a Park Makes

RECAP: Occupying 21 acres in the middle of this city’s largest Mexican-American neighborhood, called Little Village, the park used to be a brownfield and illegal dump. Back then, the site leached toxins into hundreds of nearby basements. Sickened residents protested for years. The federal cleanup, finally completed in 2012, became the largest urban Superfund project in America. EPA’s Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation’s most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills and natural disasters. To protect public health and the environment, the Superfund program focuses on making a visible and lasting difference in communities, ensuring that people can live and work in healthy, vibrant places.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/arts/design/chicago-philadelphia-parks-rahm-emanuel.html?_r=3

Trulia gives pets the whole “pawspective” with new For Sale and Rental pawperty detail pages

RECAP: The cat is officially out of the bag! Just like their two-legged companions, pets want to live in a place that suits their individual lifestyle and sense of self. They want to put paws down close to their fur friends in a forever home. Finding the right home quickly and easily is crucial to living a long and happy life, for any species. Our goal at Trulia is to make finding a home easy and enjoyable, so we’re excited to announce the launch of for sale and rental listings for pets on Trulia. Trulia added neighborhood petmenities, like big climbing trees for cats and fire hydrants for dogs, so pets can easily get the scoop on how a pawperty’s neighborhood stacks up against the rest. Each petmentity is given a rating, so our feline friends can see that bird watching in a pawperty’s neighborhood is “above average,” or that the amount of “needy humans” in the area is “lowest,” cluing them in to so much more than just the home.
https://www.trulia.com/blog/tech/pet-listings-april-fools/#sthash.k7F6oZOY.dpuf

VHDA Creates New Rural Housing Advisory Council

VHDA recently created a new Rural Housing Advisory Council, which will provide guidance and expertise about housing issues in rural Virginia. In addition, the council will provide input on modifying existing VHDA programs and developing new programs to address identified housing needs in rural areas.

“Rural housing is an important priority for VHDA; in fact, the issue was a central theme at the Governor’s Housing Conference this past fall,” said VHDA Executive Director Susan Dewey. “VHDA will be relying greatly on the expertise of our Rural Housing Advisory Council members as they provide guidance for our programs so that we can continue to make a positive impact on the affordable housing needs across the state.”

The Council will typically meet three times a year – once in the spring, once in the fall, and at an annual holiday luncheon in December with other forms of communication used throughout the year if necessary.

The first meeting of the Rural Housing Advisory Council was held on April 19, 2017 at VHDA’s Virginia Housing Center in Glen Allen. The fall meeting will be held at VHDA’s Southwest Virginia Housing Center in Wytheville.

“VHDA has been actively engaged in addressing rural housing opportunities in the Commonwealth for a number of years,” said VHDA Managing Director of Community Outreach Mike Hawkins. “For example, the Homeownership Division recently became part of a pilot project to address manufactured housing under a USDA Rural Development Program. Also, the Rental Division has been very involved over the last several years in the preservation of USDA Rural Development-financed affordable multifamily developments. Finally, the Community Outreach Division has been very engaged in promoting homeownership education in rural communities and providing capacity building grants to rural housing organizations. We look forward to continuing and expanding upon this work with the help of our new Rural Housing Advisory Council members.”

For more information about the Rural Housing Advisory Council or VHDA’s programs and services, please contact Mike Hawkins, Managing Director of Community Outreach, at mike.hawkins@vhda.com or 804-343-5654.

In Case You Missed It: A Look at Recent National Housing Policy News

HUD Releases Housing Credit Tenant Data Report 

HUD recently published Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves: Data on Tenants in LIHTC Units as of December 31, 2014, providing demographic and economic data about Housing Credit tenants, including race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance, disability status, and monthly rent burden of tenants. The median annual income of Housing Credit tenant households was $17,152. Approximately 47 percent of tenants were extremely low-income, earning 30 percent or less of area median income (AMI); 34 percent of households were very low-income, earning between 30 and 50 percent of AMI; and the remaining 19 percent earn more than 50 percent of AMI.

Approximately 56 percent of Housing Credit households pay 30 percent or less of their income for rent, while 9.5 percent pay over 50 percent of their income for rent. Nearly 38 percent of tenants reported receiving rental assistance, 43 percent reported not receiving rental assistance, and 20 percent did not report whether they receive rental assistance. According to the report, 23 percent of tenants identified their race as white, 23 percent identified as black or African American, 9 percent identified as Hispanic, 2 percent identified as Asian, and 1 percent identified as either American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander. Approximately 40 percent of respondents did not report on race or ethnicity, as allowed under fair housing laws.

New Hensarling CHOICE Act to Include Further Changes to CFPB, FHFA 

House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) earlier this week released a chart outlining several new provisions he intends to include in comprehensive financial reform legislation (The CHOICE Act) that he plans to introduce by the end of the month. The chart highlights areas of the new bill that will differ from similar legislation Hensarling introduced last Congress. Several of the new provisions could have a direct impact on those regulations that affect HFA housing programs. Specifically, the revised bill would severely constrict the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which oversees much of the mortgage lending industry.

The bill would rename the CFPB as the Consumer Financial Opportunity Agency (CFOA) and limit it to enforcing current consumer protection laws. The bill would also prohibit the agency from writing new consumer protection rules, exerting supervisory authority over financial firms, or enforcing fair lending laws. The bill would establish a single director as head of the new CFOA, the same model that now applies to the CFPB. Unlike current CFPB law, however, the bill would authorize the President to remove the CFOA director at will (currently, the President can only remove the CFPB director for cause). This is a departure from the original CHOICE Act, which would have replaced CFPB's single director structure with a bipartisan commission.

Find Out What Virginia’s Housers are Thinking about Current and Future Affordable Housing Needs

Housing Virginia Survey

We asked and you answered, and the results are in! We’ve checked the pulse of the affordable housing industry with a short survey of housing affordability in the Commonwealth. We wanted to know how members of the affordable housing industry perceive the shifting challenges of affordable housing.

Reminder: this is just a snapshot of how the survey respondents are feeling about several issues – it’s not a rigorously selected sample of opinion. With that, let’s take a look at the results.

Major Findings
Responses were provided by 145 individuals from across the state and from a diverse range of industries.

• 73% of respondents think that affordable housing has become “much more” or “slightly more” difficult to find in their community over the past year.
• Over half (58%) of respondents felt that the amount of housing resources in their community has “significantly” or “somewhat” decreased over the past year.
• Only 9% of respondents feel “somewhat” or “very” optimistic about the future of housing affordability.
• The most challenging housing problem identified by respondents was high rental costs. 
• Urban respondents were more concerned about rental costs than average, while rural respondents said that poor housing quality was just as challenging.

VHDA Mortgages Offer "Combo" Benefits to Homebuyers

When you take an already-affordable VHDA mortgage and combine it with a Down Payment Assistance grant, an MCC (first-time homebuyer tax credit) and our free First-time Homebuyer Class, the savings add up.

Remember, most VHDA loans are eligible for use with an MCC, including our Fannie Mae products, FHA Plus, VA, RHS and standard FHA. Add a Downpayment Assistance Grant, and you've got a great "combo" financing package to share with your borrowers and their real estate agents.

Learn More

Free Homebuyer Class

Down Payment Assistance

MCC Homebuyer Tax Credits

Regional Focus: Meet the Northern Virginia Team

VHDA's booth at the
Northern Virginia Housing Expo

Virginia’s housing needs vary across the state. To better understand and address those needs, VHDA is increasing its regional presence by having associates live and work outside of the Richmond and Wytheville areas, where our three offices are located. For example, we have four associates located in Northern Virginia, working in Homeownership, Community Outreach and Rental Housing.

Regina Pinkney is the Homeownership business development officer for Northern Virginia. Living and working in Fairfax County, Regina works with VHDA’s network of approved lenders in this region to explain the features of our programs and show how those features can help Virginians achieve the dream of homeownership. She will be working to increase the number of lenders in Northern Virginia who offer VHDA loans, as well as encouraging our existing lenders to offer VHDA loans to qualified borrowers. Regina will also help educate the area’s real estate agents about the advantages of VHDA financing, our free homebuyer’s class, our Down Payment Assistance grant and Mortgage Credit Certificates.

Ayan Addou is in Falls Church. Ayan serves as a Northern Virginia Strategic Housing Officer for the Community Outreach division. Ayan works closely with our partners to provide technical assistance around affordable housing, mixed-use financing, and capacity building and where appropriate, connects VHDA products and services to address local needs. Ayan regularly attends stakeholder meetings and represents VHDA at conferences and events. For example, in March, VHDA sponsored the Northern Virginia Housing Expo. Ayan and other associates provided information to prospective homebuyers and renters about our loan programs and VirginiaHousingSearch.com.

In Rental Housing, Hang Kooc is the construction control officer residing in Fairfax. The developments in Northern Virginia tend to be more complex construction deals. Hang is readily available to provide guidance on issues relating to accessibility, quality control and constructability. If the general contractor or consultant runs into issues, Hang is able to make a site visit to find a solution. This process helps keep the project moving.

Cary Boswell is a compliance officer in Rental Housing responsible for the properties in our portfolio that are in the southern part of Northern Virginia. With a background in property management in Northern Virginia, she serves as a liaison from an asset management and compliance perspective. Cary lives in Westmoreland County, which is outside of Fredericksburg. Working and living in the same region where properties are located makes her more accessible to property managers. Compliance is getting more complex, and often requires a site visit to work on issues. Management agents can meet with Cary on site within hours.

By committing resources focused on the individual needs of each region, VHDA is able to strengthen partnerships that allow us to provide quality, affordable housing.

MCC Lender Incentive Extended

 VHDA has issued more than 4,000 Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs) since the program launched in May 2015. To keep the momentum going, we're extending the MCC Lender Incentive through 2017. We hope this will encourage lenders to offer MCCs.

An MCC has the potential to save thousands of dollars for an eligible first-time homebuyer by reducing the amount of federal income tax they owe each year, for as long as they have the loan and live in their home. Thanks to each of our lenders who have offered this option to so many borrowers!

Beyond Bricks and Sticks

A weekly digest of current trends in housing and community development. The discussion examines topics from infrastructure to community fabric.

Affordable Housing For Artists Coming To South-Side Neighborhood

RECAP: Big Car Collaborative is renovating a handful of homes in the Garfield Park neighborhood with two of them becoming available next month for artists. Co-founder Jim Walker said his organization was able to purchase the properties thanks to financial assistance through the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Project, which looks for innovative ways to put Indianapolis residents into homes. While artists can purchase the home at an affordable price, they are expected to get involved in the neighborhood. The neighborhood will hold art walks on the block that take place during the first Friday of each month, where businesses at the west end of the neighborhood will all be open. "It's got people who are not only doing art or working with the community they are really trying to be part of making this a great place for everybody," Walker said.http://fox59.com/2017/03/17/affordable-housing-for-artists-coming-to-south-side-neighborhood/

LinkedIn-Zillow Research Finds Places Where Jobs and Affordable Housing Intersect

RECAP: Zillow and LinkedIn combined housing and employment data to analyze a common set of priorities: an affordable rental home and a good job. The two companies used job listings data, salary data, and the percent of workers hired in the past year in three industries: health care, technology, and finance. By analyzing income tax rates and Zillow's median rent data, they were able to find housing markets across the country where those workers can pocket the largest share of their income after paying rent. "High demand and inventory shortages have driven up housing prices in some markets so much that even if you land a great job, the salary might not cover living within commuting distance," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. "On the other hand, the nation's most affordable housing markets don't always offer plentiful employment opportunities. Housing is the biggest line item in most people's budgets, so we did the math for you and found 'sweet spots' -- places with great job markets and housing markets that will leave you with some cash at the end of the month."
https://www.zillow.com/research/take-home-pay-linkedin-14462/

Why Affordable Housing Is Essential To Our Economy

RECAP: What is the value of affordable housing? It goes beyond simply finding homes for people. Two new reports released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) explore both why affordable housing is essential to our economy and how the grave lack of it may put many at risk. The report estimates that more than 500,000 jobs were supported through HUD investments in 2015 alone. The “A Place To Call Home” report, released by the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) and the NLIHC, compiles the latest research on how access to affordable housing improves economic mobility, reduces poverty and homelessness, positively impacts health outcomes and strengthens the economy.
https://www.inman.com/2017/03/20/why-affordable-housing-is-essential-to-our-economy/

Senior Housing, Healthcare Partnership Leads to Savings, Lower Readmissions

RECAP: For a time, it seemed that home visits from doctors were a tradition of the past. However, with a growing population of seniors in need of access to affordable care, senior housing communities are experimenting with ways to link to the healthcare system through the Affordable Housing Plus Services Model. Presbyterian Senior Living first implemented the Affordable Housing Plus Services model in June 2011 at Presbyterian Apartments, an affordable senior housing community in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Partnered with Pinnacle Health, and funded by Enterprise Community Partners, Presbyterian Apartments linked on-site clinicians from the local hospital with the apartments’ on-site supportive services coordinator to provide weekly medical support to apartment residents. The idea behind the Affordable Housing Plus Services Model is to impact patient engagement by having trusted resources available on-site to match residents with healthcare providers to facilitate proactive healthcare.
http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/senior-housing-healthcare-partnership-leads-savings-lower-readmissions

In Case You Missed It: A Look at Recent National Housing Policy News

New Data Outlines Housing Affordability Challenges

Two new data studies detailed the continued challenges in finding affordability options for homeowners and renters.
One in every four U.S. county housing markets were less affordable than their historic affordability averages during the first quarter of 2017, according to new research from ATTOM Data Solutions. In this research report, an affordability index below 100 means that the share of averages wages needed to buy a median-priced home is above the historic average for a given market.  ATTOM Data Solutions determined that the national affordability index in the first quarter was 103, down from 108 in the previous quarter and down from 119 a year ago to the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2008. A total of 95 counties out of 379 counties analyzed for this research, or 25 percent, recorded an affordability index below 100 during the first quarter—the highest share of markets below the normal affordability index of 100 since the fourth quarter of 2009. Separately, new research from Zillow has determined that rental affordability is worst in minority neighborhoods than in predominantly white communities. Nationally, renters in predominantly black neighborhoods can expect to spend 43.7 percent of their income on rent, according to Zillow, while renters in Hispanic communities can expect to spend 48.1 percent of their income on rent. In comparison, renters in predominantly white communities can expect to spend 30.7 percent of their income on rent.

FHFA Working Paper Examines Impact of Appraisals on First-Time Homebuyer Costs

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently released a working paper examining whether first-time home buyers "overpay" for their homes compared to repeat buyers and whether such overpayments correlate with errors in the appraisal process. The paper is a preliminary report designed to stimulate further discussion and does not take an official position of behalf of FHFA. The paper was written by Jessica Shui and Shriya Murthy from FHFA's Office of Policy Analysis & Research.  The report analyzes data on over 1.5 million Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans to test three assumptions: 1) first-time home buyers generally purchase homes with "less-desirable attributes" than repeat buyers; 2) first-time home buyers, on average, pay more for similar homes than repeat buyers; and 3) because first-time home buyers are less experienced than repeat buyers, their propensity to overpay is more likely to be impacted by errors in the home's appraisal.

Bills to Regulate PACE Loans Introduced in House and Senate

Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress recently introduced companion bills that would subject Property Assessed Clean Energy loans (PACE loans) to federal mortgage regulations.
Through PACE loans, state and local governments provide homeowners with up to 20-year loans to finance energy efficiency home improvements, secured by tax liens attached to the property. In the event that the property is sold before the PACE loan is paid in full, the loan may transfer to the next owner of the property. Critics have claimed that many PACE lenders do not adequately underwrite the loans to ensure that homeowners can repay them and often neglect to fully explain the loans' terms to consumers.

Bill to Classify Muni Bonds as High-Quality Liquid Assets Introduced in the Senate
Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) recently introduced legislation that would allow large banks to count some of their municipal bond investments, including tax-exempt housing bonds, as high-quality liquid assets (HQLAs) under federal bank liquidity standards. The legislation, which has not yet been assigned a bill number, is expected to be referred to the Senate Banking Committee. The Warner/Rounds bill is nearly identical to a bill (The Municipal Finance Support Act of 2017, or H.R. 1624), that was introduced last week in the House of Representatives by Luke Messer (R-IN). NCSHA previously summarized H.R. 1624, and how it would impact tax-exempt housing bonds.

Beyond Bricks and Sticks

A weekly digest of current trends in housing and community development. The discussion examines topics from infrastructure to community fabric.

Creative Financing Allows Renovation at Aging Newport News Housing Projects

RECAP: Last March, the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority temporarily moved Oyster Point residents as it began a 13-month renovation of every unit under a pilot program by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They had also planned out a full renovation of units at Cypress Terrace and Brighton. The program, called Rental Assistance Demonstration, gives public housing authorities the ability to do what they usually can't: use private funding sources, including equity that comes from federal low-income housing tax-credit programs, to fix up housing. The housing authority set up a portfolio of properties that it wanted to renovate, including a rough plan of how everything would be financed. HUD gave its blessing.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-nws-nn-hud-rad-program-20170125-story.html

Affordable Housing Podcast

RECAP:  The Affordable Housing Podcast, brought to you by Eden Housing of California, explores the issues and challenges being faced in affordable housing today. From the impact of the sub-prime crisis to green building, host Joanne Greene offers compelling conversation with industry insiders. Topics include regional and national trends, inclusionary housing, government funding, and the role of private developers in helping to provide workforce housing. 

https://www.edenhousing.org/affordable-housing-podcasts

There Doesn’t Go the Neighborhood: Low-Income Housing Has No Impact on Nearby Home Values 

RECAP: Some of the nation’s least affordable markets are also ground zero for the fight against building affordable housing – which opponents say, among other things, depreciates nearby home values. Resistance to affordable housing development has surfaced in tight housing markets across the country such as San Francisco, New York, and Seattle. Given low inventory and high prices in these tight markets, we set out to uncover how much homeowners really have to fear. Using Trulia home value data, we examined changes in nearby home values before and after a low-income housing project are completed. Based on the location of low-income housing projects and completion dates, we determined whether or not these projects impact home values. 

https://www.trulia.com/blog/trends/low-income-housing/#sthash.bZLCUAb8.dpuf

3D Printed Homes a Perfect Fit for Dubai

RECAP: 3D printing will decrease construction costs and shorten delivery timelines. "In the future, 3D printing will allow developers to better cater to the affordable housing segment's demand; additionally, it could decrease the risk of delayed delivery. Considering the high living costs in Dubai, this type of product will make a lot of economic sense," said David Godchaux, CEO of Core Savills. "The application of 3D printing and other additive manufacturing technologies to construction opens up possibilities such as the reduction in the amount of raw materials required, allowing increasingly for 'just-in-time' manufacture and dramatically narrowing the range of trades involved in construction. 

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/real-estate/3d-printed-homes-a-perfect-fit-for-dubai

In Case You Missed It: A Look at Recent National Housing Policy News

Housing Advocates Say Trump Budget Cuts Would Eliminate More Than 7,400 Housing Vouchers for Poor, Elderly and Disabled Virginians 

At least 7,400 low-income, elderly and disabled Virginians and their families would lose help with housing under President Donald Trump’s efforts to exorcise federal bloat, analysts say.
The cuts unveiled as part of a spending plan for the next fiscal year would slash funds that are used to staff and repair public housing communities and reduce the number of vouchers issued to some of Virginia’s most vulnerable families. The state’s largest housing authorities — in Richmond and Norfolk — say they already have a combined total of 16,829 people on waiting lists for the vouchers, which subsidize housing in the private market for qualifying residents. Those who do qualify typically pay about 30 percent of their monthly income in rent.

FHFA Report Details Progress on the 2016 Scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Progress Report summarizing the 2016 activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) to further FHFA's three strategic objectives as conservator: Maintain, Reduce, and Build. The Progress Report details efforts made to address borrower impediments to credit access while transitioning from crisis era policies and programs to those that will help borrowers and communities that are still struggling.  The Report also describes advances made in the Enterprises' credit risk transfer programs and other activities designed to increase the role of private capital in the secondary mortgage market and reduce risk for taxpayers.  The Report also describes the successful implementation of Release 1 of the Common Securitization Platform, a significant milestone toward the ultimate goals of building a new securitization infrastructure and issuance by both Enterprises of a single, common security.   In addition, the Progress Report documents Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's ongoing actions to promote diversity and inclusion in furtherance of the strategic goals of the conservatorships.
https://www.fhfa.gov/AboutUs/Reports/Pages/2016-Scorecard-Progress-Report.aspx

Innovations in Credit Scoring Could Help More Families Become First-Time Homebuyers

What do young families in Orange County, California, and Selma, Alabama, have in common? Families in both places struggle to qualify for a mortgage and get into their first home, in part because of overly restrictive credit-scoring systems. Can new scoring models, or data about rent and utility payments, help these families become homeowners? At an event at the Urban Institute, representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Terri Sewell (D-AL) discussed the difficulties their constituents have getting their first foot onto the homeownership ladder, whether that means a stick-built house in California or a manufactured home in Alabama. Royce and Sewell cosponsored the Credit Score Competition Act (H. R. 898), designed to encourage innovation in credit scoring through competition among credit-scoring systems for the business of lenders selling loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored enterprises).