WASHINGTON, DC–Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have unveiled their respective Duty to Serve plans. The Duty to Serve is a blueprint for the GSE on how it will address challenging housing markets in the US. It is shaped by public input and feedback from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Per the proposals they submitted last year, both of the GSEs will be focusing on affordable housing, rural housing and manufactured housing using, in Fannie Mae's case, a combination of analysis, testing, partnerships, and loan purchases to serve these markets. “This is an important milestone in Fannie Mae's ongoing efforts to improve access to mortgage financing and create affordable housing opportunities for people of modest means across the country,” Jeffery Hayward, Executive Vice President and Head of Multifamily at Fannie Mae said in a prepared statement.

Freddie Mac is taking a very similar approach: its plan includes increased loan purchases in these three markets as well as new products, research and expanded consumer education. The company is working with the mortgage industry, community nonprofits, local government and other organizations, it said.