Seeking Housing That’s Not Just Affordable, but Also Just
As we anticipated when Sandra Thompson took over, FHFA’s newly-proposed approach to the GSEs’ affordable-housing goals tackles longstanding criticism that the old measurement criteria promoted gentrification. Adopting a policy also pending in the banking agency’s CRA rewrite, the replacement goals emphasize loans targeted expressly for minorities and/or low-income census tracts. However, the new goals do not include specific targets for small-dollar mortgages as some groups have urged and will surely press for again in their comments. And, as Senate Banking Chairman Brown’s statement today makes clear, they also position Thompson as a frontrunner for permanent FHFA director.
