{"data":{"id":"us/12-cfr-1281.1","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"12 CFR 1281.1","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in this part:\nAMA mortgage means a mortgage that was purchased by a Bank under an AMA program.\nAMA program has the meaning set forth in § 1268.1 of this chapter.\nAMA user means any participating financial institution, as defined in § 1268.1 of this chapter, from which the Bank purchased at least one AMA mortgage during the year for which the housing goals are being measured.\nBalloon mortgage means a mortgage providing for payments at regular intervals, with a final payment (balloon payment) that is at least 5 percent more than the periodic payments. The periodic payments may cover some or all of the periodic principal or interest. Typically, the periodic payments are level monthly payments that would fully amortize the mortgage over a stated term and the balloon payment is a single payment due after a specific period (but before the mortgage would fully amortize) and pays off or satisfies the outstanding balance of the mortgage.\nBorrower income means the total gross income relied on in making the credit decision.\nCommunity-based AMA user means any AMA user whose average total assets over the three-year period culminating in the year preceding the one being measured are no greater than the applicable community-based AMA user asset cap.\nCommunity-based AMA user asset cap means $1,224,000,000, subject to annual adjustments by FHFA, beginning in 2021, to reflect any percentage increase in the preceding year's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor.\nConventional mortgage means a mortgage other than a mortgage as to which a Bank has the benefit of any guaranty, insurance or other obligation by the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities.\nDay means a calendar day.\nDesignated disaster area means any census tract that is located in a county designated by the federal government as adversely affected by a declared major disaster administered by FEMA, where individual assistance payments were authorized by FEMA. A census tract shall be treated as a “designated disaster area” for purposes of this part beginning on the January 1 after the FEMA designation of the county, or such earlier date as determined by FHFA, and continuing through December 31 of the third full calendar year following the FEMA designation. This time period may be adjusted for a particular disaster area by notice from FHFA to the Banks.\nDwelling unit means a room or unified combination of rooms with plumbing and kitchen facilities intended for use, in whole or in part, as a dwelling by one or more persons, and includes a dwelling unit in a single-family property, multifamily property, or other residential or mixed-use property.\nFamilies in low-income areas means:\n(1) Any family that resides in a census tract in which the median income does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income;\n(2) Any family with an income that does not exceed area median income that resides in a minority census tract; and\n(3) Any family with an income that does not exceed area median income that resides in a designated disaster area.\nFamily means one or more individuals who occupy the same dwelling unit.\nFEMA means the Federal Emergency Management Agency.\nLow-income means income not in excess of 80 percent of area median income.\nMedian income means, with respect to an area, the unadjusted median family income for the area as determined by FHFA. FHFA will provide the Banks annually with information specifying how the median family income estimates for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas are to be applied for purposes of determining median income.\nMetropolitan area means a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), or a portion of such an area, including Metropolitan Divisions, for which median incomes are determined by FHFA.\nMinority means any individual who is included within any one or more of the following racial and ethnic categories:\n(1) American Indian or Alaskan Native—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment;\n(2) Asian—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam;\n(3) Black or African American—a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;\n(4) Hispanic or Latino—a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race; and\n(5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander—a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.\nMinority census tract means a census tract that has a minority population of at least 30 percent and a median income of less than 100 percent of the area median income.\nModerate-income means income not in excess of area median income.\nMortgage means a member of such classes of liens, including subordinate liens, as are commonly given or are legally effective to secure advances on, or the unpaid purchase price of, real estate under the laws of the State in which the real estate is located, or a manufactured home that is personal property under the laws of the State in which the manufactured home is located, together with the credit instruments, if any, secured thereby, and includes interests in mortgages. Mortgage includes a mortgage, lien, including a subordinate lien, or other security interest on the stock or membership certificate issued to a tenant-stockholder or resident-member by a cooperative housing corporation, as defined in section 216 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and on the proprietary lease, occupancy agreement, or right of tenancy in the dwelling unit of the tenant-stockholder or resident-member in such cooperative housing corporation.\nMortgage purchase means a transaction in which a Bank bought or otherwise acquired a mortgage.\nNon-metropolitan area means a county, or a portion of a county, including those counties that comprise Micropolitan Statistical Areas, located outside any metropolitan area, for which median incomes are determined by FHFA.\nPurchase money mortgage means a mortgage given to secure a loan used for the purchase of a single-family residential property.\nRefinancing mortgage means a mortgage undertaken by a borrower that satisfies or replaces an existing mortgage of such borrower. The term does not include:\n(1) A renewal of a single payment obligation with no change in the original terms;\n(2) A reduction in the annual percentage rate of the mortgage as computed under the Truth in Lending Act, with a corresponding change in the payment schedule;\n(3) An agreement involving a court proceeding;\n(4) A workout agreement, in which a change in the payment schedule or collateral requirements is agreed to as a result of the mortgagor's default or delinquency, unless the rate is increased or the new amount financed exceeds the unpaid balance plus earned finance charges and premiums for the continuation of insurance;\n(5) The renewal of optional insurance purchased by the mortgagor and added to an existing mortgage; or\n(6) A conversion of a balloon mortgage note on a single-family property to a fully amortizing mortgage note where the Bank already owns or has an interest in the balloon note at the time of the conversion.\nResidence means a property where one or more families reside.\nSeasoned mortgage means a mortgage on which the date of the mortgage note is more than one year before the Bank purchased the mortgage.\nSecondary residence means a dwelling where the mortgagor maintains (or will maintain) a part-time place of abode and typically spends (or will spend) less than the majority of the calendar year. A person may have more than one secondary residence at a time.\nSingle-family housing means a residence consisting of one to four dwelling units. Single-family housing includes condominium dwelling units and dwelling units in cooperative housing projects.\nVery low-income means income not in excess of 50 percent of area median income.","path":["Title 12—Banks and Banking","CHAPTER XII—FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY","SUBCHAPTER E—HOUSING GOALS AND MISSION","PART 1281—FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK HOUSING GOALS","Subpart A—General"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-12.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:16Z","sha256":"f4e9d717ef9007b34d33a565b0f2c535def0a0aaa1b42c8c78dd417825a55f46","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/12-cfr-1278.7","next":"us/12-cfr-1281.10"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}