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Continued progress. Forward momentum.

Fannie Mae’s Equitable Housing Finance Plan (the Plan) is an actionable, three-year road map designed to overcome inequities in the U.S. housing market. In its third year, the 2024 Plan is building on a strong, tested foundation. We are outlining new actions and adaptive changes while the heartbeat of the Plan remains the same: providing access to affordable and sustainable homeownership and rental housing for generations to come.

The Black and Latino Housing Journeys

Fannie Mae’s housing equity and stability efforts continue to be guided by a data-driven, evidence-based, and consumer-centric framework referred to as the Consumer Housing Journey. Download the Black Housing Journey and Latino Housing Journey research PDFs to learn more about the distinct barriers faced by Black and Latino consumers.

Here are some highlights from the last two years of plan actions:

  • Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter® (DU®), the leading automated underwriting system, continued to leverage data and technology to create a more inclusive way to assess mortgage eligibility and serve more creditworthy borrowers.
  • Our Positive Rent Payment Reporting Pilot has helped renters who pay their rent on time build a credit history and improve their credit score.
  • HomeView®, our award-winning homeownership education offering, began offering a credit-building course in 2022 that is available in Spanish and English.

What’s new in 2024

New actions: Building on the momentum of the last two years, new actions were developed specifically to improve equitable access to homeownership and sustainability:

Research initiatives: We have continued our efforts to identify barriers to equitable and sustainable housing. In 2023, we gained valuable insights, including:

In 2024, we will expand on a range of market and consumer research initiatives to further refine our Equitable Housing Finance Plan.

2023 Performance Report: An overview of the progress we have made towards our Plan goals in 2023.

The Plan focuses on actions that promote more equitable housing along three main phases of the research based housing journey:

Step 1

Housing Preparation

Helping consumers prepare early for sustainable homeownership and access to quality rental housing through establishing strong financial and credit foundations.

Step 2

Renting or Buying

Removing unnecessary obstacles consumers face in shopping for, acquiring, renting, or financing a home.

Step 3

Move In and Maintain

Improving the tools available for renters and homeowners to help them withstand disruptions or crises and remain stably housed.

Our actions: Solutions rooted in the consumer housing experience

  • 1 Housing Preparation
  • 2 Renting or Buying
  • 3 Move In and Maintain

1

  • Pilot rental payment reporting across the multifamily industry to help Black, Latino/Hispanic, and other underserved renters with thin or no credit history establish, maintain, and improve their credit scores
     
  • Expand support for housing counseling agencies to increase access to pre-purchase counseling
     
  • Expand financial capabilities coaching to build credit, savings, and financial resiliency in select markets
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the implementation of a positive rent reporting program for renters in affordable housing to help them establish and/or improve credit using on-site financial coaching programs at rental properties
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the expansion of comprehensive financial coaching and HUD-approved counseling, and planning for development of affordable housing in rural Virginia

2

  • Improve access to credit for borrowers with insufficient credit histories through an automated underwriting enhancement that considers a borrower's positive rent payment history as part of the credit risk assessment
     
  • Enhance use of cash-flow assessment in automated underwriting for borrowers with insufficient credit histories
     
  • Support efforts to expand equitable homeownership through mortgage products with down payment and/or closing cost assistance, and make it easier for lenders to create and adopt them
     
  • Close the knowledge gap for Black and Latino consumer audiences with targeted outreach and expanded homeownership curriculum to create more confident consumers along the housing journey
     
  • Develop and publish a definition of "first-generation homebuyer" for broad use by mortgage market participants
     
  • Research options to defray and/or decrease the cost of renter security deposits to help historically underserved renters qualify for quality rental housing and increase savings
     
  • Reduce closing costs for consumers to help remove the barrier of lack of sufficient up=front funds needed to purchase a home, including down payments
     
  • Valuation modernization to support an equitable appraisal process for historically underserved consumers and communities
     
  • Expand Appraiser Diversity Initiative to attract new entrants to the residential field and reduce barriers to entry
     
  • Expand Future Housing Leaders® (FHL) to increase the representation of Black and Latino people in the housing industry to improve access to economic opportunities while creating an industry that better reflects the diversity of the nation
     
  • Continue to advance Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce (SDW) for conventional multifamily borrowers who elect to restrict rents on a minimum of 20% of the units at levels affordable to tenants at 80% of AMI or less (and up to 100% AMI and 120% AMI in cost-and very cost-burdened markets)
     
  • Continue to advance Sponsor-Initiated Affordability (SIA) for multifamily borrowers who elect to restrict a minimum of 20% of units in a multifamily property for residents earning at or less than 80% AMI
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the revitalization and expansion of housing opportunities in a historically    Black neighborhood through rehabilitation and infill housing
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the creation of locally owned modular construction facilities in urban communities 
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the development of a locally controlled special purpose credit program to increase Black homeownership

3

  • Expand access to counseling services for borrowers and renters in financial hardship
     
  • Provide climate analytics to empower communities with data, enabling them to make a stronger case for change and resources
  • Pilot rental payment reporting across the multifamily industry to help Black, Latino/Hispanic, and other underserved renters with thin or no credit history establish, maintain, and improve their credit scores
     
  • Expand support for housing counseling agencies to increase access to pre-purchase counseling
     
  • Expand financial capabilities coaching to build credit, savings, and financial resiliency in select markets
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the implementation of a positive rent reporting program for renters in affordable housing to help them establish and/or improve credit using on-site financial coaching programs at rental properties
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the expansion of comprehensive financial coaching and HUD-approved counseling, and planning for development of affordable housing in rural Virginia
  • Improve access to credit for borrowers with insufficient credit histories through an automated underwriting enhancement that considers a borrower's positive rent payment history as part of the credit risk assessment
     
  • Enhance use of cash-flow assessment in automated underwriting for borrowers with insufficient credit histories
     
  • Support efforts to expand equitable homeownership through mortgage products with down payment and/or closing cost assistance, and make it easier for lenders to create and adopt them
     
  • Close the knowledge gap for Black and Latino consumer audiences with targeted outreach and expanded homeownership curriculum to create more confident consumers along the housing journey
     
  • Develop and publish a definition of "first-generation homebuyer" for broad use by mortgage market participants
     
  • Research options to defray and/or decrease the cost of renter security deposits to help historically underserved renters qualify for quality rental housing and increase savings
     
  • Reduce closing costs for consumers to help remove the barrier of lack of sufficient up=front funds needed to purchase a home, including down payments
     
  • Valuation modernization to support an equitable appraisal process for historically underserved consumers and communities
     
  • Expand Appraiser Diversity Initiative to attract new entrants to the residential field and reduce barriers to entry
     
  • Expand Future Housing Leaders® (FHL) to increase the representation of Black and Latino people in the housing industry to improve access to economic opportunities while creating an industry that better reflects the diversity of the nation
     
  • Continue to advance Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce (SDW) for conventional multifamily borrowers who elect to restrict rents on a minimum of 20% of the units at levels affordable to tenants at 80% of AMI or less (and up to 100% AMI and 120% AMI in cost-and very cost-burdened markets)
     
  • Continue to advance Sponsor-Initiated Affordability (SIA) for multifamily borrowers who elect to restrict a minimum of 20% of units in a multifamily property for residents earning at or less than 80% AMI
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the revitalization and expansion of housing opportunities in a historically    Black neighborhood through rehabilitation and infill housing
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the creation of locally owned modular construction facilities in urban communities 
     
  • Innovation Challenge: Support the development of a locally controlled special purpose credit program to increase Black homeownership
  • Expand access to counseling services for borrowers and renters in financial hardship
     
  • Provide climate analytics to empower communities with data, enabling them to make a stronger case for change and resources

What can you do?

  1. 1 Download the full 2024 Plan
  2. 2 Download last year's 2023 Plan
  3. 3 Download the 2023 Performance Report
  4. 4 Download the Equitable Housing Finance Plan Overview