WASHINGTON—The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released a proposed rule to amend the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) housing goals, specifically related to mortgage purchasing.
The release comes at the same time a recent NAFCU Economic & CU Monitor survey found 39% of respondents' credit unions use the FHLBs to offload mortgage loans from their balance sheets.
The FHLBs can voluntarily participate in the FHFA's acquired member asset (AMA) program; currently, if a FHLB's AMA purchases exceed a volume threshold of $2.5 billion, the bank is subject to housing goals set by the agency, NAFCU noted.
What the Rule Would Do
According to the FHFA's release, the proposed rule would:
- Set a single prospective mortgage purchase housing goal as a share of each FHLB's total AMA purchases
- Set a new small member participation housing goal for participation by small institutions
- Eliminate the volume threshold and instead allow FHLBs to propose different goals levels for mortgage purchases and small member participation, subject to FHFA approval
- Simplify and expand the eligibility criteria to enable federally backed loans to count for goals purposes