NAFCU has written the Obama Administration asking it to make sure credit unions are included in the coming debate on how to restructure the nation's policy housing finance.
The association noted that credit unions were not significant participants in a Aug. 17 forum on housing policy that the departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development has sponsored.
"As your administration moves forward with the development of policy, we respectfully ask you to ensure that credit union voices are uniquely represented during the process," wrote NAFCU CEO Fred Becker in the Aug. 19 letter. "Such was not the case during the August 17 forum and the lack of adequate representation was evidenced by the fact that there was little or no mention on the effect of policy changes on small institutions and the millions of Americans that rely on them."
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Becker also specifically endorsed a federal role in the mortgage market.
"In regard to the substance of policy decisions, I would like to take this opportunity to fully endorse the availability of a government backstop for mortgage-backed securities," he added. " While details on such guarantee must be worked through over discussion and debate, we believe the GSEs, or the entity or entities that would replace them, must be able to buy and hold mortgage-backed securities. The presence of at least one entity that has an explicit government guarantee and conducts itself without a profit motive is critical to smaller institutions because of the real possibility that the private markets can systematically, or through market forces, exclude small entities from the secondary market for mortgages," Becker contended.
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