August 09, 2024

Wyden Joins Colleagues in Urging Federal Home Loan Banks to Contribute More to Affordable Housing

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined with six other senators to urge each of the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) to contribute more of their net income to affordable housing and other critical community grant programs. 

“We write to ask that the Federal Home Loan Bank[s] voluntarily contribute at least 20 percent of its net income to grants that support affordable housing and community economic development investments by increasing support for your Affordable Housing Program (AHP) and creating new voluntary programs. In doing so, we echo the calls of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the White House, and the Treasury Department,” the senators wrote.

The United States is estimated to have a shortage of more than 7 million housing units. For every ten extremely low-income renters, the United States has less than four affordable and available rental homes. 

“Unfortunately, the FHLBanks have failed to adequately respond to [the housing] crisis,” they continued. “…Last year the FHLBanks spent only $395 million on affordable housing payments. In the past five years, 42% of the more than 6,500 FHLBank members have not originated a single mortgage, a stunning indication of the extent to which the FHLBanks have strayed from their housing mission.”

FHLBanks pledged to increase their combined affordable housing and community development payments to 15 percent–but not a single bank has met the 20 percent threshold. FHLBanks have paid millions to executives and board members over the past year. The letters call for each FHLBank to allocate at least 20 percent of net income to affordable housing and community development.

“The FHLBs must do more to fulfill their mission and meet the affordable housing and community development needs of the communities they serve,” the senators concluded.

In addition to Wyden, other signers of the letter are U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., 

The full letters are here.