According to an article in the DS News magazine; FHFA proposed rule for GSES to offer mortgages to three underserved markets:
A rule that was introduced last December requires FHFA by federal law to implement a “Duty to Serve” requirement as specified in the Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 and amended by HERA in 2008. The proposed regulation will require the manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural markets to be served.
The rule would require an adoption of plans to improve the distribution and availability of mortgage financing that will serve very low, low and moderate income families in these three specified markets.
For manufactured housing market: Duty to Serve credit would be provided for eligible activities related to manufactured homes financed as real property and blanket loans for certain categories of manufactured housing communities.
For affordable housing preservation market: Credit would be provided for eligible renters and homebuyers and also be provided for activities related to existing small multifamily rental properties, energy efficiency improvements on existing multifamily rental and single family first lien properties, shared equity homeownership programs and the HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
For rural markets: Duty to Service credit would be provided for activities related to housing in rural areas, high-needs rural regions (such as Appalachia, Mississippi Delta ad Native American areas.