Housing Discrimination Lawsuit Against Fannie Mae

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of the housing discrimination lawsuit filed against the Federal National Mortgage Association yesterday, Monday, by the National Fair Housing Alliance and 20 local fair housing organizations across our Nation. The lawsuit properly alleges Fannie Mae purposely failed to maintain its foreclosed properties in African American and Latino neighborhoods to the same condition as it maintains properties in Caucasian neighborhoods. Over 20 cities were involved in this filing, and investigations revealed severe maintenance issues in communities of color, in contrast to Freddie Mac, which maintains its properties at a much higher standard in all neighborhoods.

With a net income of over $45 billion over the last 2 years, Fannie Mae remains one of the largest issuers of single-family, mortgage- related securities. This year, Fannie Mae reported holding over 40 million foreclosed properties, many of which they do not maintain.

So why hasn't Fannie Mae maintained its foreclosed properties in African American and Latino communities? They certainly have enough profits to do so. May the judges rule in favor of Fannie Mae meeting its public responsibilities to the communities of this country as soon as possible.

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