© 2023 Fannie Mae | Last updated March 2023

Fannie Mae’s Equitable Housing Finance Plan (EHFP) is an actionable, 

three-year road map designed to overcome inequities in the U.S. 

housing market. In its second year, the Plan outlines new actions 

and adaptive changes. The goal remains the same: to knock down the 

barriers to affordable rental housing and homeownership

for historically underserved populations. 

A snapshot of this year’s key objectives

Reduce up-front rental and homeownership 

costs and eliminate outdated barriers.

Support improved opportunities for long-term 

success for underserved renters and borrowers.

1

2

U.S. homeownership rate by race (2021)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Non-Latino white, 73%

Latino, 51%

Non-Latino Black, 44%

Source: Fannie Mae computations from American 

Community Survey PUMS 1-year estimates, 2021

22-point gap

29-point gap

Always our North Star: closing the housing gap 

WHAT’S NEW IN 2023

• The Latino Housing Journey: 

Created a new data-based 

consumer journey that 

informs our actions, building 

on the insights from the 

Black Housing Journey.

• New actions: Stretched our 

ambitions with new actions 

developed specifically to 

improve equitable access to 

rental housing and financially 

empower renters.

• An innovation portfolio: 

Supported five new communitybased approaches to sustainable 

housing for Black people in 

communities of opportunity.

• Closed actions: Two actions 

from last year were deemed 

completed, unviable, and/or 

ineffective and removed to 

focus on more efficient efforts.

• Revised actions: Most existing 

actions were updated and 

improved based on early 

test-and-learn programs, 

research, or consumer and 

stakeholder input.
The Black and Latino Housing Journeys

© 2023 Fannie Mae | Last updated March 2023

The EHFP focuses on the three main phases of this journey: 

Promoting credit building 

and financial education to help 

underserved households increase 

access to affordable rental housing 

and prepare early for sustainable 

homeownership.

Removing unnecessary 

obstacles consumers face 

in shopping for, acquiring, 

renting, or financing a home.

Improving the housing infrastructure 

so renters and homeowners can 

withstand disruptions and remain 

sustainably housed.

Along the journey: an overview of obstacles

Extensive research revealed that consumers who identify as Black and/or Latino experience many of the same 

obstacles. These are the main areas where our actions can have the most impact on both consumer groups.

Financial realities

Financial profiles show higher housing cost burdens, thin credit, higher debt-to-income ratios, 

and other financial disparities that create barriers to savings and limited funds for housing costs. 

Bias and unequal access

Black and Latino consumers experience racial steering, mortgage and denial at higher levels, 

higher relative costs and fees for rent or mortgages, and lower home appreciation.

Lack of affordable housing

Rising home prices coupled with income inequities place affordable housing further 

out of reach for Black and Latino consumers. 

Housing vulnerability

Households show higher rates of repair needs and disproportionate exposure to climate crises yet 

have smaller savings to cover maintenance, natural disasters, and unexpected financial shocks. 

What can you do? 

Download the full Plan

Download last year's Plan

Download the 2022 Performance Report

1

2

3
The updated Plan includes 25 solutions and initiatives that address these obstacles 

and many more throughout the stages of the Consumer Housing Journey.

• Pilot rental payment reporting across the multifamily industry 

to help renters with no credit score establish a credit history and 

help those with low credit scores to increase them

• Support financial capabilities coaching to build credit 

and savings in targeted markets 

Appendix: 25 actions that address these obstacles (and more) 

© 2023 Fannie Mae | Last updated March 2023

Housing Preparation

Renting or Buying

• Support the implementation of a positive rent reporting program 

for Black renters to help them establish and/or improve credit 

using on-site financial coaching programs at rental properties

(Innovation Challenge)

• Support the expansion of a comprehensive financial coaching 

and HUD-approved counseling and planning for development 

of affordable housing in rural Virginia (Innovation Challenge)

• Expand access for borrowers with insufficient credit through 

automated underwriting enhancements to support consumers

• Expand access to credit for first-time homebuyers through an 

automated underwriting enhancement that considers a borrower’s 

positive rent payment history as part of the credit risk assessment

• Continue pilot of special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) to help 

support the expansion of homeownership and availability of down 

payment assistance (DPA), while exploring ways to reduce SPCP 

participation hurdles for lenders

• Pilot options to defray and/or decrease the cost of renter security 

deposits to help Black and Latino renters qualify for quality rental 

housing and increase savings

• Close the knowledge gap for consumer audiences with targeted 

outreach and expanded homeownership curriculum to create 

more confident consumers along the housing journey

• Explore the potential to derive value from Social Index-related 

mortgage-backed securities issuance to promote access to credit 

and borrowing cost reduction for underserved borrowers

• Valuation modernization to support an equitable appraisal process 

for Black and Latino households and communities of color

• Expand Appraiser Diversity Initiative to attract new entrants to the 

residential appraisal field by reducing barriers to entry (such as 

education, training, and experience requirements), and fostering 

diversity, which we believe will help to reduce the instances of 

appraisal bias

• Reduce closing costs for consumers to help remove the barrier 

of lack of sufficient funds for closing (down payment plus 

closing costs)

• Pilot a multifamily borrower diversity program to reduce barriers 

for property owners from historically underserved groups

• Launch a Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS®) 

correspondent diversity program

• Develop and launch Sponsor-Dedicated Workforce (SDW), 

a Fannie Mae Multifamily loan incentive initiative for use by 

multifamily borrowers and lenders

• Continue to advance Sponsor-Initiated Affordability (SIA), 

a Fannie Mae Multifamily loan incentive initiative for use by 

multifamily borrowers and lenders

• Support the revitalization and expansion of housing 

opportunities in a historically Black neighborhood through 

rehabilitation and infill housing (Innovation Challenge)

• Support the creation of locally owned modular construction 

facilities in urban communities of color (Innovation Challenge) 

• Support the development of a locally controlled special 

purpose credit program to increase Black homeownership 

(Innovation Challenge)

• Connect diverse college students to career opportunities in 

housing and real estate finance via the expansion of 

Fannie Mae’s Future Housing Leaders® program

Move In and Maintain

• Pilot homeownership sustainability services, such as 

post-purchase counseling and mortgage reserve accounts, 

as a feature of special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) to 

strengthen borrower housing stability over time

• Promote awareness of fair servicing best practices 

to address borrower loss mitigation disparities

• Expand counseling services for renters and homeowners 

facing hardship

• Provide climate analytics to empower communities with 

data, enabling them to make a stronger case for change 

and resources