WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today before a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing on reforms to the housing finance system and the future of Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) presented testimony that called for a trio of components to be preserved and strengthened. Together these principles will build upon housing reforms that have already occurred, while also bolstering the current ‘duty-to serve’ mandate:
- Broad access to all credit-worthy borrowers;
- Inclusion of small financial institutions such as community banks and credit unions;
- Affirmative efforts to include underserved communities, including pricing practices that broadly pool risk to reduce mortgage costs for more borrowers.
Nikitra Bailey, an EVP with CRL, offered the following statement:
While banks have reached record profits, far too many families in America are struggling. Any housing finance reform must make access and affordability central components. The economy must not continue to benefit a few small and wealthier part of the population while excluding lower-wealth families. Furthermore, historic discrimination committed by the federal government in insuring mortgage loans for whites only, which is the key driver to our racial wealth gap, has yet to be fully addressed. Now is the time to do it.
Download a copy of Ms. Bailey’s written testimony. (PDF)
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Charlene Crowell at charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.