WASHINGTON, DC (July 29, 2017) — National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) Regulatory Affairs Counsel Ann Kossachev today wrote the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) expressing support for better access to mortgage credit for creditworthy borrowers but noting concern about potential costs and legal issues that could arise under measures addressing limited English proficiency borrowers.
In the letter, Kossachev urged that the FHFA “ensure that any measures taken to assist limited English proficiency (LEP) borrowers do not create additional obligations or increase mortgage origination or servicing costs for credit unions.”
To that end, Kossachev urged the FHFA to develop a centralized system of publicly available translated mortgage materials and to provide new resources and information about multi-lingual housing counseling services. She emphasized that these resources should come from and remain with the government-sponsored enterprises and the FHFA and not be shifted onto mortgage lenders and servicers.
In other comments, Kossachev detailed the potential new obligations and increased costs that could come from the FHFA’s ideas for addressing LEP borrowers, including the costs of having to update credit union systems and written and oral disclosures.
Attached please find full-text of the letter.
The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions is the only national trade association focusing exclusively on federal issues affecting the nation’s federally-insured credit unions. NAFCU membership is direct and provides credit unions with the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance. For more information on NAFCU, go to www.nafcu.org or @NAFCU on Twitter.
The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions is the only national trade association focusing exclusively on federal issues affecting the nation’s federally-insured credit unions. NAFCU membership is direct and provides credit unions with the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance. For more information on NAFCU, go to www.nafcu.org or @NAFCU on Twitter.
