Democratic presidential debate addresses housing issues

Last week’s Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta finally featured a question about housing for the first time in five debates. The question was directed at Tom Steyer, who spoke about the housing shortage in his home state of California, calling for the construction of new, climate-resilient units and the elimination of local zoning policies that limit new construction. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker also spoke about their housing plans, with Warren touting her plan to build 3.2 million new housing units and Booker bringing up his plan for a new housing tax credit. Julián Castro, who did not make the debate stage, tweeted his housing plan in response to the question being asked. Warren also recently unveiled a new plan to protect renters which calls for a new Tenant Protection Bureau within HUD, a national right-to-counsel fund to provide legal representation for renters facing eviction, and a just cause eviction standard to prevent unjust evictions.

OCC, FDIC to proceed with CRA Modernization effort without Federal Reserve

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting has publicly stated that the OCC will not continue to work with the Federal Reserve on its effort to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Otting’s comments were made following his speech at the Bank Policy Institute’s annual conference in New York last week. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Jelena McWilliams said that her agency, the third of the three federal bank regulators, will join the OCC in its CRA modernization effort. The FDIC Board of Directors, which consists of Otting, McWilliams, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathleen Kraninger and Martin J. Gruenberg, must vote on the FDIC joining the OCC on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its December 12 meeting. The release of the joint NPR is expected shortly afterwards. NHC has repeatedly urged the CRA regulators to work together on a three agency rule. Negotiations broke down over the OCC’s insistence on using a ratio approach to measuring bank performance under the CRA. The vast majority of organizations commenting on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that OCC issued earlier this year strongly opposed this approach. NHC will be preparing detailed comments to the NPR. Members should be aware that we expect a very short deadline on the NPR.

FHFA to re-propose Enterprise Capital Rule in 2020

The FHFA announced on Tuesday that it will re-propose the Capital Rule for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2020, which regulates the capital requirements of the GSEs. FHFA Director Mark Calabria said  “This rule will be re-proposed and finalized within a timeline fully consistent with ending the conservatorships. Requiring the Enterprises to build capital that can properly support their risk ensures that taxpayers will never be on the hook again during an economic downturn.” Calabria called it “one of the most important rules I will issue as Director.” Calabria has said the previous rule was written before Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were being prepared to exit conservatorship, and needs to be redesigned.

House passes several housing bills

The House of Representatives passed four housing-related bills last week: the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 introduced by Reps. Al Green (D-Tex.) and Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), the Tribal Eligibility for Homeless Assistance Grants Act of 2019 introduced by Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.), the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act introduced by Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019 introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). Waters also introduced the Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2019 last week, which NHC supports, with Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) introducing a companion bill in the Senate. And Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced the Homes for All Act on Thursday, which would invest $1.2 trillion over the next decade to build 12 million affordable, environmentally-friendly housing units.