Working Families Home Construction Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9461 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9461

 To permit the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal
   National Mortgage Association to purchase and securitize certain
                    residential construction loans.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2026

Mr. Fitzgerald introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To permit the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal
   National Mortgage Association to purchase and securitize certain
                    residential construction loans.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Working Families Home Construction
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. PURCHASE OF QUALIFYING CONSTRUCTION LOANS BY FANNIE MAE AND
              FREDDIE MAC.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (hereafter referred to
as the ``Director'') shall permit the enterprises to purchase and
securitize qualifying construction loans, as described in this section.
    (b) Qualifying Construction Loan.--A qualifying loan shall have
each of the following characteristics:
            (1) The loan shall be made by a depository institution, a
        credit union, a State housing finance agency, or any other
        entity as determined by the Director.
            (2) The originating institution for the loan shall verify
        and document the financial viability, capacity to complete, and
        support from the local community as defined in subsection
        (d)(4), for the purpose of providing that information to an
        enterprise.
            (3) The loan shall have an interest rate established by the
        Director, which takes into account--
                    (A) affordability for a family described in
                paragraph (9); and
                    (B) safety and soundness with respect to the
                operating costs and expected losses related to
                purchasing qualifying construction loans.
            (4) The loan shall be made to a builder, homebuilder, or
        developer.
            (5) The loan shall be for a construction project that will
        result in the building of 1 or more owner-occupied dwelling
        units.
            (6) The recipient of the loan shall contribute not less
        than 10 percent of the capital required to complete the
        construction project (including the value of the land on which
        the project is located) to be undertaken by the recipient using
        such loan.
            (7) The loan shall be--
                    (A) not more than $100,000 for each dwelling unit
                to be constructed as part of the construction project
                provided that the amounts described in this paragraph
                represent the maximum amount of supplemental or gap
                financing eligible for purchase and securitization by
                an enterprise under this Act and may be layered with
                other construction financing sources, including
                commercial construction loans, State or local
                financing, and developer equity contributions and shall
                not be construed to require that a qualifying
                construction loan serve as the sole or primary source
                of financing for any construction project; and
                    (B) not more than $2,400,000 in total for any
                single construction project.
            (8) The loan may be used for--
                    (A) acquiring land;
                    (B) professional services, including engineering
                services, land use planning services, surveying,
                environmental due diligence;
                    (C) developing infrastructure that will serve such
                eligible construction project, including roads, sewers,
                sidewalks, grading, water lines, stormwater management,
                lighting, and street landscaping and signage;
                    (D) construction of dwelling units;
                    (E) direct developer incentives; or
                    (F) municipal fees and permits.
            (9) Each dwelling unit built as part of a construction
        project financed with a loan shall be sold to a family whose
        income is between 90 percent and 130 percent of the area median
        income in the area where the dwelling unit is located.
            (10) When a dwelling unit built as part of a construction
        project financed with a loan is sold, the terms of the sale
        shall require the purchaser to reside in the dwelling unit for
        not less than 1 year, and shall require developers to include a
        recorded, restrictive covenant to that effect.
    (c) Availability of Amounts.--
            (1) Freddie mac.--Section 1337 of the Federal Housing
        Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12
        U.S.C. 4567(a)(1)(B)) is amended in subsection (a)(1)(B)--
                    (A) in clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking ``65'' and inserting
                        ``53''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking ``35'' and
                inserting ``25''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) 22 percent of such amounts for the
                        purpose of purchasing and securitizing
                        qualifying construction loans under the Working
                        Families Home Construction Act of 2026; and''.
            (2) Fannie mae.--Section 1337 of the Federal Housing
        Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12
        U.S.C. 4567(a)(2)(B)) is amended in subsection (a)(2)(B)--
                    (A) in clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking ``65'' and inserting
                        ``53''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (ii)--
                            (i) by striking ``35'' and inserting
                        ``25''; and
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end and
                        inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) 22 percent of such amounts for the
                        purpose of purchasing and securitizing
                        qualifying construction loans under the Working
                        Families Home Construction Act of 2026; and''.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Credit union.--The term ``credit union'' has the
        meaning given the term ``insured credit union'' in section 101
        of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
            (2) Depository institution.--The term ``depository
        institution'' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of
        the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
            (3) Enterprise.--The term ``enterprise'' means--
                    (A) the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; or
                    (B) the Federal National Mortgage Association.
            (4) Support from the local community.--The term ``support
        from the local community'' means formal authorization or
        endorsement for the proposed construction project from the
        relevant local governmental authority, which shall be deemed
        satisfied by any one of the following:
                    (A) a valid zoning approval issued by the relevant
                local government authority for the proposed
                construction project;
                    (B) a building permit issued by the relevant local
                government authority for the proposed construction
                project;
                    (C) a formal resolution or letter of support from a
                local elected official with jurisdiction over the area
                in which the project is located; or
                    (D) such other documentation as the Director
                determines demonstrates formal local governmental
                authorization for the proposed construction project.
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