Congratulations 2020 NAWRB Leadership Award Winner Sharron P.A. Levine, Director of FHFA’s Office of Minority & Women Inclusion!

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NAWRB is proud to award Sharron P.A. Levine with the 2020 Government Official Leader Award! Levine is the Director of FHFA’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. She leads the Agency’s oversight of the diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs of FHFA’s regulated entities, which include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Common Securitization Platform (CSS), the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Office of Finance. Sharron has more than 35 years of legal experience in the financial services industry representing corporate, institutional, governmental, and private entities in many aspects of real estate law, including construction and permanent loan financing; housing finance; leveraged buyouts; and more. Levine has delivered numerous keynote and other speeches across the industry and has been nominated several times for awards in Diversity and Inclusion for the work that FHFA has accomplished in this critical area.

Each year, the NAWRB Leadership Awards honor women leaders in the housing ecosystem who are utilizing their expertise and passion to break glass ceilings in the corporate world and facilitate the growth of their local communities. Congratulations, Sharron P.A. Levine!

CFPB, FHFA, & HUD Launch Joint Mortgage & Housing COVID-19 Assistance Website

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have jointly launched a new mortgage and housing assistance website to help Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic navigate through this time with the latest accurate housing assistance information. Homeowners and renters can access the website at cfpb.gov/housing.

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FHFA Realigning Agency Structure to Help Enterprises Exit Conservatorship

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) just announced a realignment in their agency structure intended to help them to continue delivering as a regulator of the Enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, and to ensure that the Enterprises can responsibly exit conservatorship. 

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FHFA’s Office of Minority & Women Inclusion Releases Strategic Plan

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) has just released its strategic plan for increasing diversity and inclusion (D&I) in housing finance for years 2019-2021. The FHFA outlines three goals to help fulfill its equal employment opportunity (EEO) mission and increasing D&I efforts at the Enterprises, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, comprising 11 Banks and the Office of Finance. The plan also includes how the FHFA will support D&I in the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) and the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

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FHFA Requests Public Input for Duty to Serve Program Provisions – Deadline Nov. 2, 2018

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently released a Request for Input to the public regarding proposed modifications to the Enterprises’, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Duty to Serve (DTS) program. These proposed modifications will the purchase or rehabilitation of distressed properties activity, chattell loan pilot,  investment in LIHTC properties and financing by small financial institutions, as included in the 2018-2020 Underserved Markets Plans.

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SHETalks: Sharron P.A. Levine on Public Housing Issues & Women’s Changing Roles in the Industry

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Sharron P.A. Levine, Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), was the first in our SHETalk series. She gave a historical overview of housing for minorities and women, focusing on how housing design has changed through the 20th and 21st centuries and how housing policy and design has impacted women’s lives.

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Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Conclude Expansion in Single-Family Rental Market

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced yesterday that government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will end their expansion into the single-family rental market by halting the single-family rental pilot programs initiated in the last two years. The FHFA has concluded that the market is able to run smoothly without the assistance of GSEs, even though they will still retain previous investor programs such as Fannie Mae’s Multiple Financed Properties and Freddie Mac’s Investment Property Mortgages.

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2018 NAWRB Conference Live Updates: Building Infrastructure, Maintaining Agriculture & Disaster Recovery

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The second to last panel to grace our stage was the Building Infrastructure, Maintaining Agriculture & Disaster Recovery Panel, featuring Michelle Corridon, Deputy Director, USDA Rural Development; Noemi Lujan-Perez, VP of Government and Media Relations, EcoDiversity; James K. Joseph, Regional Administrator, FEMA Region V; Sharron P.A.  Levine, Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); and Desiree Patno, CEO & President, NAWRB. These professionals shared how their agencies respond to natural disasters and provide financial assistance to affected homeowners and business owners, while also letting attendees know about contracting opportunities and how they can be involved in developing trends in infrastructure.

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2018 NAWRB Conference Live Updates: SHETalk Sharron P.A. Levine, Dr. Chitra Dorai & Dottie Herman

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We kicked off the 2018 NAWRB 5th Annual Conference, “Year of Women,” this morning with three inspiring SHETalks by Sharron P.A. Levine, Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); Dr. Chitra Dorai, Former IBM Fellow and Master Inventor; and Dottie Herman, CEO of Douglas Elliman. All of these thought leaders and business owners delivered enlightening sound bites of important issues affecting the industry, such as opportunities for women in housing as professionals and consumers, Technology Human Balance and the rules for building a successful business.

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FHFA Halts Search for New Credit Score Models

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Today the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it is shelving its search of a new credit score model, a decision that was expected to be announced in 2018, to focus its attention on implementing the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act enacted earlier this year. The Act requires the agency to set definitive rules for Enterprises to follow when validating current credit score models.

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