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Comment

Director Thompson,

Back in 2012 and 2014 when the FHFA Brokered the deal to sell all the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac inventory to the hedge funds, it crashed our housing market. For the past decade, Hedge funds have been practicing unethical tenant management - unethical flips - and they are holding inventory STILL that should be circulated into the market. As hedge funds do - they are hedging - driving the prices up so they can fulfil their 'buy low sell high' - goals. Where most communities are scrambling to create more housing to make up for the shortages created by the FHFA and the Hedge funds a decade ago - as rental regulations and increased inventory comes to market - the HFs will sell off their inventory first before the public catches on, after artificially inflating values with the FHFA's help. The FHFA Conservatorship over Fannie and Freddie was supposed to be temporary. 15 years later they are still controlling and manipulating housing markets. And they are failing - and not likely to admit their role in this current crisis. If Fannie and Freddie were released to run free market business again - they would likely correct this crisis. They have LONG since - paid back the money from the bailout in the recession years, but they are being held back and controlled and unable to do what they do best.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your Request for Input (RFI) on how the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), in its oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, can best provide affordable housing opportunities for renters. Approximately 40% of the National Association of REALTORS®'s (NAR) 1.5 million members own at least one rental housing unit, playing a vital role in providing safe, quality, and affordable housing in neighborhoods nationwide.

As the FHFA examines ways to improve access to affordable housing, it is critical to acknowledge the most significant driver of housing unaffordability is the limited supply of available housing. According to NAR data, the United States has an underproduction gap of over 5.5 million units – a key underlying reason housing costs have increased. On top of this, inflation has increased the prices of goods and services for all Americans. As housing providers strive to provide affordable housing opportunities in their communities, they also contend with rising mortgage rates and increased costs for supplies, services, and maintenance. When inflation is high, the prices of materials increase. That means it becomes exceedingly more expensive for construction teams to build new homes or renovate existing ones. Ultimately, these high costs spill into the housing market and lift home prices for new builds and existing housing.

As REALTORS®, we are committed to upholding the very specific provisions of our contracts with residents, and we often go above and beyond what is required to ensure residents have safe, quality, and affordable places to live. Rental housing is a deeply complex issue that is unique to every community. Creating additional layers of policies to a space that is already heavily regulated by state and local governments will have severe unintended consequences for renters as housing providers are leaving the market in communities where affordable housing is sorely needed.

Affordable housing is pivotal to creating paths to upward mobility for people across the country. I appreciate your commitment to ensuring we achieve this goal without impeding the creation of much-needed housing supply. Karen Frisone