Executive Order on housing affordability issued

President Donald Trump Tuesday issued an Executive Order, “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers,” to prevent large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

“Home ownership has long been a core tenant of achieving the American dream, and credit unions are trusted partners in helping their members obtain affordable loans to do so,” said Scott Simpson, America’s Credit Unions president/CEO. “We’ve advocated for policies that will enhance credit unions’ ability to participate in federal home loan programs, and we will continue to engage the Administration and housing regulators to ensure credit unions are part of this solution.”

According to the White House fact sheet, the order:

• Directs key agencies to issue guidance preventing relevant federal programs from approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating sales of single-family homes to institutional investors;
• Instructs key agencies to promote sales to individual owner-occupants through first-look policies, disclosure requirements, and anti-circumvention measures;
• Directs the Treasury Secretary to review rules and guidance that relate to large institutional investors acquiring or holding single-family homes;
• Directs the Attorney General and Federal Trade Commission chairman to review acquisitions by large institutional investors for anti-competitive practices and prioritize enforcement against certain of those practices by institutional investors in the single-family home rental market;
• Directs the Housing and Urban Development Secretary to identify potential large institutional investors involved in federal housing assistance programs by demanding disclosure of ownership in single-family rentals; and
• Tasks the White House with preparing legislative recommendations to codify these policies so that large institutional investors do not acquire single-family homes.

America’s Credit Unions is reviewing the details of the Executive Order and will provide credit unions with insights into any provisions that could impact the industry.