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President Donald Trump Tuesday signed an executive order to establish a new council that is focused on eliminating barriers to affordable housing. "We are hopeful that the council will provide recommendations to tailor regulations so that credit unions may better serve vulnerable communities and help to combat the affordable housing crisis gripping our nation," said NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Ann Kossachev.

The council will be led by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson and consist of representatives from a total of eight federal agencies. According to a release, the council will work with state, local and tribal leaders "to identify and remove obstacles that impede the development of new affordable housing."

Once regulatory barriers are identified, the council will recommend ways to reduce burdens at all levels of government and seek ways to incentivize affordable housing development.

NAFCU is actively engaged with the administration, Congress and other stakeholders as they work on housing finance reform to ensure credit unions' unfettered access to the secondary mortgage market in any solution. Earlier this year, the president issued a memo directing HUD and the Treasury Department to prepare housing finance reform plans for the entities they oversee.

Association staff and credit unions recently met with Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Dr. Mark Calabria and has met with him several times previously. NAFCU also recently met with leaders at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to discuss issues related to the housing market.