OHFA 2022 Third Quarter Agency at a Glance

OHFA UPDATE - PAGE 2 - 2022 THIRD QUARTER ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY THROUGH AFFORDABLE HOUSING Increas ing Hous ing Oppor tuni t ies for al l Ohioans SEAN THOMAS SENIOR ADVISOR FOR HOUSING POLICY & PROGRAMS The mission of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency is to open the doors to an affordable place to call home for all Ohioans regardless of race or ethnicity. And, our FY 2022-2023 Annual Plan highlights our effort to advance equality through affordable housing, and key initiatives are identified as Housing Equity Focused. These are not the only initiatives OHFA will undertake to promote equity in housing. Our team will consider equity in the administration of all OHFA programs and operations. You may wonder why equity is important. Despite the economic and political gains that minorities have achieved since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, historical and ongoing discriminatory public policies and practices still exist. This results in significant disparities between Black and non- Hispanic White households in areas such as access to homeownership, quality education, and employment. Persistent residential segregation and a racially segmented housing market have significant implications for economic mobility, health, and education outcomes. Segregation, disparate access to credit and homeownership, and a lack of quality affordable rental housing along with the consistent devaluation of homes in black neighborhoods combine to constrict the ability of Black Ohioans to build equity and accumulate wealth through homeownership and quality affordable rental housing. So how will OHFA work to increase equity in FY 2022-2023? Here are our key initiatives broken down by program office: SINGLE FAMILY • OHFA is developing strategic partnerships with organizations that serve Black persons in order to raise awareness of OHFA’s homebuyer programs to potential Black homebuyers. • OHFA will continue to promote the changes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made to their homebuyer underwriting process that enables lenders to consider on-time rent payments for borrowers with limited credit histories. • OHFA staff are developing a number of pilot initiatives designed to increase the production of affordable for-sale homes. The goal is to roll out these initiatives in spring 2023.