Civil Rights Advocates Respond to Bill Pulte’s Nomination to Lead Federal Housing Finance Agency 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

January 17, 2025 

Media Contact: NFHA@skdknick.com 

Civil Rights Advocates Respond to Bill Pulte’s Nomination to Lead Federal Housing Finance Agency 

Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance® (NFHA™) issued the following statement from Nikitra Bailey, Executive Vice President, in response to President-elect Trump’s nomination of Bill Pulte as the next Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA): 

“The Federal Housing Finance Agency plays a pivotal role in ensuring the stability, affordability, and accessibility of the U.S. housing market, particularly through its oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The nomination of Bill Pulte as the regulator of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) comes as our nation faces an urgent fair and affordable housing crisis, escalating mortgage rates, and widening economic disparities. 

Across the country, people—especially those in Black, Latino, and low-to-moderate-income communities—are finding it increasingly difficult to secure safe, stable, and affordable housing. This is compounded by historical inequities and systemic barriers that continue to limit access to credit and homeownership opportunities for underserved groups. NFHA urges Mr. Pulte, if confirmed, to commit to upholding the agency’s critical missions to foster equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and rental housing and ensuring housing policies promote fair access to opportunity for everyone. 

During his previous administration, President-elect Trump’s housing policies, including efforts to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, raised significant concerns about market disruptions and the potential erosion of their statutory fair and affordable housing initiatives. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were bailed out by taxpayers nearly two decades ago. Under FHFA Director Thompson’s leadership significant reforms occurred, such as requiring the financial giants to create and execute Equitable Housing Finance Plans and modifying the GSEs’ mortgage pricing framework to make homeownership more affordable for all creditworthy consumers. But significant work remains, including the need to fully eliminate harmful loan level price adjustments, which result in increased costs for mortgage loans in this already high-interest rate environment and disproportionately impact underserved communities. Privatizing the financial giants’ profits only to have to rescue them from future downturns is reckless and will drive up the cost of the coveted 30-year fixed rate mortgage, which has resulted in homeownership becoming attainable for millions of everyday people throughout the nation. 

NFHA holds every administration accountable for advancing fair housing and lending and creating more pathways to homeownership. Now is the time to implement bold and equity-driven solutions that address the nation’s fair and affordable housing crisis, reduce racial wealth gaps, and ensure that all communities can share in the nation’s prosperity. This is particularly true as all future household growth is expected to be comprised of communities of color. The system’s safety and soundness relies on people of color having fair access as housing is the cornerstone of economic stability and community well-being. FHFA must meet this moment with resolve and fairness. 

The National Fair Housing Alliance remains committed to defending any attempts to weaken existing fair housing and lending protections and ensuring that the promise of equitable opportunities is a reality for all.”  

About the National Fair Housing Alliance 

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for over 200 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.