Press
NAFCU statement on Johnson, Crapo GSE Reform Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC (March 11, 2014) — National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) lobbyists attended a meeting today where Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, announced an agreement on housing finance reform and will soon have the measure ready for mark-up.
“NAFCU appreciates the continued work of Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Crapo as they tackle the complex issue of housing finance reform in a bipartisan way,” NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger said. “We are encouraged that the announcement today recognizes that credit union access to the secondary market is vital for homeownership and a healthy housing finance system.”
The committee will be working from S.1217, the Corker-Warner bill, as the base text and will generally maintain its overall architecture, the senators said.
Some of the key provisions of the plan include:
- Ensure that affordable, 30-year, fixed-rate, prepayable mortgages continue to be available, and that affordability remains an important consideration.
- Provide equal access for lenders of all sizes to the secondary market.
- Facilitate broad availability of mortgage credit for all eligible borrowers in all areas and for single family and multifamily housing types.
NAFCU is monitoring progress on housing finance reform legislation and working closely with Congress to ensure that any final reform measure includes government-guaranteed access for credit unions to the secondary mortgage market and loan pricing based on loan quality, not quantity.
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The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on federal issues affecting credit unions, representing its members before the federal government and the public.