NAACP Supports Reform of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE's) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Help Low and Middle-Income Homeowners

WHEREAS, ensuring that all Americans have access to fair and sustainable credit opportunities is crucial to our Nation's sustained economic recovery; and

WHEREAS, racial and ethnic minority communities have long been underserved by the housing markets, targeted by predatory lenders, and denied opportunities to build housing wealth; and

WHEREAS, the subprime lending and foreclosure crises are manifestations of unequal access to banking and financial services, not simply an isolated anomaly or the fault of a few fraudulent lenders and borrowers; and

WHEREAS, the current policy debate surrounding the structure of our housing system, including the government-sponsored enterprises (GSE's) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, provides a unique opportunity to make improvements; and

WHEREAS, the future housing finance system must affirmatively establish pathways to homeownership for qualified borrowers and safe and affordable rental homes for all families; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has a critical role to play in ensuring that the secondary market serves all borrowers in a fair and equitable manner. Without federal incentives or interventions, the housing finance system will not reach all segments of borrowers and geographic areas; and

WHEREAS, a balanced national housing policy that facilitates a stable, liquid secondary market-accessible to small and large lenders alike-and will extend credit and capital on an equitable basis to all qualified borrowers and in all communities is necessary to ensure a fair and sustained economic recovery which reaches all segments of our society; and

WHEREAS, we need a financial system in which all players share accountability to protect consumers and the integrity of the system; and

WHEREAS, one of our primary objectives in revising the national housing finance system is to ensure the affirmative delivery of fairly priced capital to all Americans, including underserved borrowers and neighborhoods.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP supports a comprehensive reform of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE's) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which ensures that the housing finance system furthers our nation's fair housing goals by aggressively promoting nondiscrimination, residential integration, and equal access to the benefits of decent and safe housing and ownership opportunities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP advocate avoiding an over-reliance on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance since leaving an entire borrower segment and whole neighborhoods reliant on a single source of mortgage credit is bad policy for a number of reasons; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP supports integrated neighborhoods, in which clean, safe and affordable rental units and homeownership opportunities are available to all Americans. Additionally, the NAACP supports the creation of a pilot program to recapture homeowners and GSE's underwriting appraisal value and equity through cooperative endeavor­ private sponsored, regional cooperative homeownership partnership structures.