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NAFCU calls on FHFA Acting Director Thompson to resolve burdensome mismatch of regulations
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger wrote to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Sandra Thompson Friday to offer the credit union perspective about recent amendments to the government-sponsored enterprises' (GSEs) Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs) and the impact on credit unions' ability to provide temporary GSE qualified mortgages through the GSE Patch.
NAFCU previously joined with several other trade groups in a letter to the Treasury Department and FHFA to reiterate concerns that the changes would add to the GSEs' compliance costs and could result in increased fees for borrowers and lenders.
The Treasury and FHFA announced the PSPA amendments in January, which allow the GSEs to retain earnings until they meet capital rule requirements. The announcement also indicated that Treasury will permit the GSEs to raise private capital and exit conservatorship once certain conditions are met, in addition to restructuring the department's investment in each enterprise.
The amendments to the PSPAs diminish new flexibilities brought on by the CFPB's extension of the general qualified mortgage (QM) definition's mandatory compliance date until October of 2022. In the letter, Berger stressed this mismatch, stating that NAFCU "remains concerned about adverse impacts on credit union lenders given the misalignment created by the PSPA amendments."
In addition, Berger called on the FHFA, in conjunction with the Treasury, to "make changes to the PSPAs to resolve this mismatch with the CFPB’s recent extension of the GSE Patch."
Read Berger's full letter. NAFCU will continue to work with both the FHFA and the Treasury to resolve this issue.