NFHA Calls on the Senate to Reject House Bill that Increases Cost of Mortgages for First-time Homebuyers and Homebuyers of Color

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 23, 2023
Contact: Izzy Woodruff, iwoodruff@nationalfairhousing.org

NFHA Calls on the Senate to Reject House Bill that Increases Cost of Mortgages for First-time Homebuyers and Homebuyers of Color

Washington, D.C. — Nikitra Bailey, Executive Vice President of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), issued the following statement expressing disappointment with the House’s passage of the Middle Class Borrower Protection Act and calls on the Senate to reject the bill. The legislation increases the cost of mortgages for first-time homebuyers and homebuyers of color.

“Today, the House of Representatives voted to make conventional mortgages more expensive for first-time homebuyers and homebuyers of color whose loans are sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). This vote undermines the GSEs’ important public missions to ensure credit liquidity in every community at all times, and not just to wealthier homebuyers and investors. The Middle Class Borrower Protection Act places homeownership further out of reach for the consumers on whom the future health of the housing finance system depends. Communities of color will comprise 70 percent of all net new households in the coming decade. Today’s vote in the House places the safety and soundness of the nation’s housing finance system at risk by pricing these borrowers out. With the current skyrocketing housing costs, first-time homebuyers and borrowers of color need Congress to help them achieve the American Dream of homeownership, not shut the door on that dream.

“We urge the Senate to stand with the Administration and creditworthy potential homebuyers and reject this harmful legislation.”

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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 170 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.