The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced two partnerships involving Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) to boost awareness and liquidity for programs that expand housing access for tribal communities.

In one partnership, the FHLBank of Des Moines will promote a Freddie Mac mortgage product intended to improve credit access for federally recognized Native American tribes. In the other, Fannie Mae will purchase loans originated through the FHLBank Mortgage Partnership Finance (MPF) program — administered by the FHLBank of Chicago — to increase mortgage liquidity for tribal communities.

“With their distinct charters and models for providing liquidity to underserved communities, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks are combining their efforts to expand housing access in tribal communities,” FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said in the release. “As Native American tribes face unique challenges in addressing their affordable housing needs, this collaboration among FHFA’s regulated entities will increase the impact of programs that offer solutions.”

The FHLBank of Des Moines will help raise financial institution members’ awareness of Freddie Mac's HeritageOne mortgage purchase offering. This product is designed to meet the specific borrowing needs of members of federally recognized Native American tribes living on tribal lands, the FHFA stated.

The partnership between the FHLBank of Chicago and Fannie Mae will include several FHLBanks that participate in the MPF program. Through its Native American Conventional Lending Initiative, Fannie Mae will purchase loans originated through the MPF program that are provided to Native American borrowers and secured by tribal land trusts.

In the release, FHFA also noted research has shown that Native American communities are often underrepresented among consumers of traditional financial services. A 2019 report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. found that over 16 percent of Native Americans had no bank account, the highest of any demographic group.

Native Americans also experience challenges in accessing mortgage credit. According to Census Bureau data, 56.7 percent of Native American households owned their homes between 2015-2019, 15 percentage points lower than white households.

“The partnerships announced by FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHLBanks of Des Moines and Chicago illustrate the potential of housing finance stakeholders coming together to expand affordable housing solutions. FHFA intends to facilitate dialogue among its regulated entities and other stakeholders to encourage further collaboration on challenges faced by underserved communities in the future,” FHFA said in a release.