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MortgagePoint_May2023

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May 2023 » thefivestar.com 65 J O U R N A L May 2023 under their Equitable Housing Finance Plans during 2022 and actions they are taking to ad- vance equity in their automated underwrit- ing systems, such as the inclusion of rental payments and cash flow underwriting and the use of advanced statistical techniques to improve model fairness. FHFA also updated its Enterprise Fair Lending Data Dashboard with data through 2022 that categorizes single-family applications and loans by race and ethnicity. HUD HIGHLIGHTS ZONING REFORMS TO BOOST HOUSING SUPPLY T he U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a new publication that summarizes the effects of restrictive land use policies on housing supply, location, and affordability, in addition to highlighting reforms that state and local governments can adopt to increase the supply of housing. This land use and zoning-focused brief is the inaugural issue of the Office of Policy De- velopment and Research's (PD&R) new Policy & Practice publication, which aims to share innovative solutions to help local policymak- ers and practitioners to address housing and community development challenges. In addition to releasing this new brief on pro-housing land use and zoning reforms, HUD is also announcing an award of $350,000 to Cornell University's National Zoning Atlas through PD&R's Research Part- nerships program. The goal of this grant is to close data gaps that limit our understanding of the relationship between zoning and seg- regation, affordability, and other outcomes of interest. Specifically, these research funds will enable researchers to study the impacts of zoning in the largest cities nationwide by contributing to the first-ever comprehensive geospatial repository of zoning conditions. Past efforts by the National Zoning Atlas and its local partners have helped make the case for local and state regulatory reforms by spotlighting how excessive regulation via re- strictive zoning dampens housing production and exacerbates the housing shortage. "Through the release of Policy & Practice and the research partnership with Cornell University, HUD is highlighting promising reforms that can create more housing abun- dance while also taking steps to improve data and understanding around the impacts of zoning," said Solomon Greene, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary within HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. "PD&R looks forward to continuing to sup- port researchers, community residents, prac- titioners, and policymakers to work together to adopt evidence-based and data-driven state and local regulatory reforms aimed at unleashing the supply of housing." The Biden-Harris administration's Hous- ing Supply Action Plan cited the role that land use and zoning laws play in reducing housing development and raising prices. As part of HUD's administrative actions taken in conjunction with the Administration's efforts, HUD is currently accepting requests for tech- nical assistance to help local governments en- sure housing needs are considered as part of their larger infrastructure investment plans, and identifying and implementing regulatory reforms is an eligible activity of that technical assistance. In addition, HUD received $85 million from Congress in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget to provide communities grants to identify and remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation. FANNIE MAE RECOGNIZED FOR DRIVING ADOPTION OF GREEN FINANCING IN HOUSING F annie Mae announced that it has re- ceived the 2023 ENERGY STAR Part- ner of the Year–Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy. This is the ninth consecutive year for Fannie Mae's Multifamily business and the third such recognition for the company's Past efforts by the National Zoning Atlas and its local partners have helped make the case for local and state regulatory reforms by spotlighting how excessive regulation via restrictive zoning dampens housing production and exacerbates the housing shortage.

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