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As a leader in housing finance reform efforts to ensure credit unions' priorities and concerns are addressed, NAFCU's Brad Thaler Monday sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee reiterating the association's priorities and addressing several recent efforts to protect renters and homeowners amid the coronavirus pandemic and to prepare the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) for the end of conservatorship.

The committee is set to hold a hearing at 2 p.m. Eastern today to review the state of housing in America.

Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs, noted the importance of assistance included in the American Rescue Plan Act, as it "is necessary to help struggling Americans stay in their homes, while ensuring that financial institutions such as credit unions have the liquidity to continue to serve their members."

He outlined additional legislative opportunities to ensure the housing finance market remains strong after the pandemic and reiterated the need for Congress to pass protections, arguing that without them "credit unions' access to the secondary market and ability to lend to more members of their communities, particularly those individuals of low and moderate income, may be in jeopardy." Thaler also advocated for provisions that allow credit unions to retain servicing rights to loans they make to their members, urged easier access to the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system for credit unions, and cautioned against changes that could put new burdens on the industry.

As housing finance reform requires the coordination of Congress and federal housing agencies, Thaler detailed for the committee credit unions' perspective on some recent efforts by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to strengthen the GSEs before they are removed from conservatorship. NAFCU recently shared with the FHFA considerations for the GSEs' minimum liquidity and funding requirements and Thaler reinforced the association's concerns with increased guarantee fees, potential consequences of a multi-guarantor model, and the need for home loan options to help low- and moderate-income borrowers build wealth.  

Ahead of the hearing, Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey, R-Pa., outlined his principles for housing finance reform legislation, which include several NAFCU-supported provisions, such as promoting equitable access to the secondary mortgage market by mortgage lenders of all sizes, fostering a liquid secondary mortgage market that promotes the continued availability of affordable 30-year and other long-term fixed-rate mortgage loans, and more.

NAFCU will continue to advocate on behalf of the credit union industry's and its members' best interests in the housing finance system and urge Congress and the FHFA to work in a bipartisan manner to achieve reform.