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"Housing finance reform truly is the last piece of unfinished business from the financial crisis," wrote NAFCU's Dan Berger as he stressed the importance of maintaining credit unions' access to the secondary mortgage market to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Joseph Otting. NAFCU is scheduled to meet with Otting in a few weeks.

Berger, NAFCU's president and CEO, highlighted the important relationship credit unions have with the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to access the secondary mortgage market. "Between 2007 and 2017, the portion of credit union first mortgages that were sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac grew from 41 percent to 50 percent," Berger wrote.

"Accordingly, any housing finance reform discussions should place a strong emphasis on evaluating the potential impact on the credit union industry," he added.

Berger outlined the association's core principles for housing finance reform for Otting, noting that the "overarching goal of these principles is to ensure that credit unions are treated fairly with respect to accessing the secondary market." NAFCU has also shared the principles with key lawmakers, regulators and administration officials.

Read the full letter here.

Last month, Otting made comments about the administration's and Treasury Department's work on a housing finance reform plan. NAFCU has urged the Trump administration and Congress to work together on a comprehensive solution to housing finance reform.

Dr. Mark Calabria, who has been nominated to lead the FHFA, awaits Senate confirmation.