FHFA rollbacks and layoffs reduce support for low‑income homebuyers

Since taking over the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte has overseen a series of rollbacks and staff cuts that have pulled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac away from efforts to help low‑income people buy homes. The agency has repealed rules and guidance, fired teams focused on fair lending and climate risk, and reduced its focus on lower‑income borrowers.

Those actions included rescinding advisory bulletins on climate risk, cutting divisions that monitored disparities in interest rates and appraisals, firing large parts of teams that analyzed climate and sustainability risks, and ending the enterprises’ purchase of loans made through special purpose credit programs.

Advocates said the cumulative effect could raise costs for people who can least afford them; “Every single action seems small, but it’s a brick that’s being removed,” said Sharon Cornelissen of the Consumer Federation of America. The F.H.F.A., Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae declined to comment.

The agency also rescinded a suite of fair‑lending guidance, proposed eliminating a rule that empowered penalties for violations, and reset affordable housing goals to levels the report called weaker than ever. Officials at the F.H.F.A. said they were cutting back on functions not explicitly required by statute, and Mr.

Key Topics

Business, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bill Pulte, Fair Lending, Affordable Housing Goals