The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced the creation of a new Division of Public Interest Examination (DPIE), responsible for supervisory oversight of the Agency’s regulated entities in the areas of affordable housing, community development, diversity and inclusion, consumer protection, and fair lending.
James Wylie, who has led the FHFA’s Office of Fair Lending Oversight since 2018, will serve as Deputy Director for the DPIE.
Establishment of the DPIE will highlight the Agency’s focus on public interest examinations and increase synergy and collaboration between existing public interest examination programs.
“FHFA has a statutory obligation to ensure our regulated entities operate in the public interest,” said FHFA Director Sandra L. Thompson. “Since joining the Agency, James has guided FHFA in maturing its fair lending supervision program, and he is well prepared to lead and strengthen these critical supervision functions.”
The establishment of the DPIE has been shared with National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 343, and the FHFA is committed to working with the union to complete impact and implementation bargaining.
Tapped to lead DPIE
Wylie previously served as the Associate Director of FHFA’s Office of Fair Lending Oversight.
He joined the FHFA nearly six years ago, as Supervisory Program Analyst for the Office of Fair Lending Oversight. He moved on within the Office of Fair Lending Oversight to become Associate Director of Fair Lending before being tapped to lead the new DPIE.
Prior to joining FHFA, Wylie worked on consumer protection and fair lending regulations for more than five years at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as Senior Counsel. And before the CFPB, he spent nearly five years with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of General Counsel Fair Housing Enforcement Division. The Office of General Counsel (OGC) provides legal opinions, advice, and services with respect to all HUD programs and activities. While part of the OGC, Wylie represented HUD in litigation and enforcement actions, providing legal services in connection with the development, preparation, and presentation of HUD’s legislative initiatives.
Wylie has also been an instructor for the National Fair Housing Training Academy, and has a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in history from the University of Tulsa.
FHFA releases new final rule
The FHFA has released its Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans Final Rule, together with the Fannie Mae Equitable Housing Finance Plan update and Freddie Mac’s Equitable Housing Finance Plan update, as well as Performance Reports for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2023.
The new final rule codifies in regulation FHFA’s fair lending oversight requirements for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—and the Federal Home Loan Banks; the GSEs’ Equitable Housing Finance Plans (Plans); collection of homeownership education, housing counseling, and language preference information from the Supplemental Consumer Information Form (SCIF); and new Federal Home Loan Bank reporting requirements.
