Affordable Housing Program Amendments: Federal Home Loan Bank Mortgage Refinancing Authority

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing and seeking comment on an interim final rule to implement section 1218 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Recovery Act), which requires the FHFA to allow the Federal Home Loan Banks (Banks) until July 30, 2010, to use Affordable Housing Program (AHP) homeownership set-aside funds to refinance low- or moderate-income households' mortgage loans. This rulemaking relocates the AHP regulation to the FHFA rules, and adds new provisions that allow the Banks to use AHP set-aside funds to provide direct subsidies to low- or moderate-income households who qualify for refinancing assistance under the HOPE for Homeowners Program established by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) under Title IV of the Recovery Act.