The Federal Housing Finance Agency has named 19 real estate experts to a new committee to provide non-binding advice regarding affordable, equitable and sustainable housing issues.
The Advisory Committee on Affordable, Equitable and Sustainable Housing, first announced in 2022, includes former government housing officials, mortgage veterans and a Mortgage Bankers Association chairwoman. The first meeting will be held this fall, the FHFA said Thursday.
"The wide-ranging factors driving the nation's housing affordability challenges will be best identified and addressed with perspectives anchored in on-the-ground experience," said FHFA Director Sandra Thompson in a press release.
The FHFA regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Both government-sponsored enterprises have come under scrutiny in recent months for separate initiatives regarding title insurance and a second lien purchase program. The FHFA meanwhile recently called on input regarding the FHLBs' affordable housing program.
Former federal officials on the committee include Pamela Patenaude, a principal at advisory firm Granite Housing Strategies and the former second-in-command at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other committee members hail from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the FHFA itself.
Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president at the National Fair Housing Alliance, is part of the group. Debra Still, a vice chair at Pulte Financial Services, is also former chair at the Mortgage Bankers Association. Other members represent large firms like Rocket Mortgage through community and municipal-based resident organizations.
Experts also hail from numerous areas of expertise like artificial intelligence, such as Sipho Simela, founder and CEO of Matrix Rental Solutions and former head of mortgage strategy at fintech Ocrolus.
The committee, according to its 2022 charter, will have an estimated annual operating cost of $325,000, although members won't be paid for their service. The group won't have access to non-public FHFA information. It will report recommendations regarding affordable housing needs or barriers to access to the director.
The group will meet at least twice a year, and members will serve two-year terms.
The FHFA in recent months has taken other actions regarding fair lending. In April it finalized a rule to make it more difficult to roll back measures to encourage more affordable housing at the GSEs and the FHLBs. The Agency's request for input regarding the FHLBs ends in August.
