Enterprise Duty To Serve Underserved Markets
Key claim: FHFA proposes to rescind and replace its Duty to Serve Underserved Markets regulation to give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac more flexibility to serve very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing markets.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Federal Housing Finance Agency) The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or Agency) proposes to rescind its regulation on Duty to Serve Underserved Markets and replace it with a new rule. If adopted as proposed, the new rule would enable the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively, the Enterprises) to better serve the needs of very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in the manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing markets through greater innovation and with less administrative burden.
Why this matters
The Duty to Serve framework shapes how the GSEs channel secondary-market liquidity toward manufactured housing, preservation, and rural markets — segments that disproportionately affect lower-income renters and buyers and small-scale builders. A rescission-and-replacement approach signals FHFA is loosening or restructuring existing plan requirements, which could shift how much and how quickly capital flows to these underserved markets.