FHFA: Fannie and Freddie Met Duty-to-Serve Requirements

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently released a report finding that in 2018 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac met all their affordable housing goals and their obligations under the Duty-to-Serve Rule. The Duty-to-Serve program requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to facilitate a secondary market for mortgages on housing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in: Manufactured Housing, Affordable Housing Preservation, and Rural Housing.

The report cites Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s LIHTC equity investments as supporting their efforts to finance affordable housing in rural areas. Overall, Fannie Mae committed $118 million in LIHTC equity to rural areas in 2018, supporting 42 properties, 13 of which were in high-needs rural regions such as Middle Appalachia or the Lower Mississippi Delta, which the Duty-to-Serve rule targets. The firm also made four LIHTC investments to support housing for Native Americans living on tribal land, which FHFA has identified as a high-needs rural population in the Duty-to-Serve Rule. Freddie Mac, meanwhile, committed $73 million in LIHTC investments to rural areas, supporting 17 properties, five of which are in high-needs rural regions.