GSE Bill Passed in Committee Doesn’t Do Enough for Latino Community

With a 13–9 vote, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs approved the Johnson-Crapo government-sponsored enterprise reform bill yesterday, which would restructure our nation’s housing finance system. While our nation’s housing market is in need of a major overhaul, the legislation approved today simply doesn’t do enough to ensure affordable access to mortgages for Latinos and all communities of color.

In a statement, NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía expressed serious concerns with the bill:

“Our housing finance system must, above all, maintain a duty to serve all creditworthy borrowers. Although there are components of this bill that we support, the legislation as a whole misses the mark because it fails to ensure that Latinos and other traditionally underserved communities won’t be unfairly cut off from affordable mortgage credit.

“In fact, this bill could actually make getting a mortgage tougher for middle- and low-income families, the same families who were hurt most by the predatory lending and irresponsible gambling practices of financial institutions that led to our housing crisis. We are deeply disappointed by the unwillingness of some members of the committee to adequately address the mortgage credit needs of our community.”

Murguía also stressed that despite the bill’s problems, opportunities still exist to improve it:

“While we are disappointed with the current version of the bill, there is still time to fix the serious structural problems that exist within this legislation.To create a housing finance system that works for all Americans, our concerns about access and affordability must be dealt with before the bill moves to the Senate floor.”