Some Say Lack of GSE Capital Impacts Affordable Housing Efforts
April 29, 2016
Rep. Mike Capuano, D-MA, wants the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Treasury Department to re-examine the policy that prevents Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from building capital to avoid disrupting affordable housing initiatives.Before being placed into conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie were equipped to invest in affordable housing and underserved markets, he said, adding that in today’s environment, the underserved markets will suffer the most from the net worth sweep. Capuano wrote in a letter to the agencies that the lack of stability and strength caused by eliminating the GSEs’ capital buffer has “particularly serious consequences” for the residents of underserved markets across the country.