The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA)  is a national non-profit association of small and mid-sized community-based mortgage lenders.  The mission of the CHLA is to promote federal mortgage programs, rules, and regulations which treat community mortgage lenders fairly, and which reflect the critical importance that community mortgage lenders play in providing broad access to credit for borrowers, in increasing competition in mortgage markets, and in providing borrowers with quality mortgage services and access to loans at a local level.

Community mortgage lenders face both significant challenges and new growth opportunities as the landscape for mortgage lending and servicing continues to change at an unprecedented rate.  Federal agencies are issuing a number of new regulations under Dodd-Frank, the CFPB continues to grow, and Congress is beginning a vigorous debate on the financial status and role of FHA, on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and on steps that could be taken to bring private capital back into mortgage markets, in order to shrink the footprint of Fannie, Freddie, and FHA.

These changes could have a major impact on community mortgage lenders. However, too often, policy makers in Washington hear only the voices of the biggest players, including so-called “too-big-to-fail” firms – often ignoring the perspective of other lender/servicers in the market.