Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay
WASHINGTON, DC – After an urgent effort by Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has released payments of over $367 million to two vital programs that support access to affordable housing. The long-delayed payments include $244 million to the Housing Trust Fund and $131 million to the Capital Magnet Fund.
The decision to release the funds came after Mr. Clay directed a letter to FHFA Acting Director Joseph Otting, urging him to allow funding access to affordable housing as a top, bipartisan national priority.
Mr. Clay, who is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance said, “Funding the federal commitment to affordable housing gives working families a chance to secure their future and will make neighborhoods stronger. I want to thank Acting Director Otting for agreeing to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae to release this funding to the National Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund, both of which make a real difference across this country.”
The Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund were established in 2008 but were not fully funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before they were placed into conservatorship. In late 2014, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, independently determined that their financial operations stabilized to a sufficient level to allow contributions to the HTF and CMF.
