NAHMA Meets with Senior HUD Leadership
This week, NAHMA Staff and President, Michael Simmons met with leadership from HUD’s Office of Housing. Senior HUD Staff included, Lopa Kolluri, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Housing, and Ethan Handelman, Multifamily Deputy Assistant Secretary. During the meeting, NAHMA and HUD staff reinforced the importance of the partnership and outlined some shared goals (pandemic recovery, expanding affordable housing, and resident services) and potential areas of disagreement (oversight). In a letter to the HUD leadership, NAHMA stated, “As you are aware, there are a number of major affordable housing challenges facing the nation, even as we tackle and recover from the pandemic. NAHMA looks forward to partnering with you and your staff to address these challenges, including providing emergency rental assistance to tenants and operational assistance to property owners adversely impacted by the pandemic; ensuring HUD’s rental assistance and service coordination programs are fully funded, and preserving and developing new affordable housing units.”
In addition to the policy priorities, the HUD staff also discussed recent accomplishments from their first 100 days. A FACT SHEET of HUD’s key accomplishments in the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration is available on the HUD website.
Lawmakers Reintroduce Legislation to Increase Affordable Housing; Address Restrictive Zoning
This week, the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act was reintroduced in both chambers of Congress. Among a group of lawmakers, the legislation was introduced with lead sponsors Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who also released a summary of the bill and an analysis of the legislation by Moody’s Analytics that found the legislation would build or rehabilitate nearly 3 million units over the next decade and save families and average of $100 per month. If passed, the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act will:
Control the cost of renting or buying a home by leveraging federal funding to build nearly 3 million new housing units for lower-income and middle-class families — bringing down rents by 10%, according to an independent analysis from Moody’s Analytics.
Reduce the cost of housing across America by creating incentives for local governments to eliminate unnecessary land use restrictions that drive up costs. The bill puts $10 billion into a new competitive grant program that communities can use to build infrastructure, parks, roads, or schools. To be eligible, local governments must reform land use rules that restrict production of new affordable housing, or implement measures to protect tenants from harassment and displacement.
Provide assistance to people hurt by federal housing policy failures:
Down payment assistance to communities historically denied mortgages by the government. The federal government denied Black borrowers mortgage subsidies as late as the 1960s, stripping them of opportunities to build wealth. As a first step to address the resulting wealth gap between white and Black families, the bill provides down payment grants to first-time homebuyers living in formerly redlined or officially segregated areas.
VA-guaranteed home loan eligibility for descendants of certain veterans. While the GI Bill provided for VA-guaranteed home loans for veterans, federal discrimination prevented many Black veterans from accessing this benefit. The bill extends eligibility for VA-guaranteed home loans to direct descendants of veterans who served between the enactment of the GI Bill and the Fair Housing Act, but did not receive that benefit.
Hold financial institutions accountable for providing access to credit for all Americans. The bill would strengthen obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to provide credit to low- and moderate-income communities by expanding the law to cover non-bank mortgage companies, promote investment in activities that help poor and moderate-income communities, and strengthen sanctions against institutions that fail to follow the rules.
Promote mobility by strengthening anti-discrimination laws and improving the housing voucher program. The bill prohibits housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, veteran status, and source of income. The bill also makes it easier to use housing vouchers in neighborhoods with good schools and good jobs and allows tribal housing authorities to administer their own voucher programs.
Requires more accessible housing. The bill doubles the minimum requirement for accessible units built or supported with funding provided in the bill.
Changes the rules to stem the pipeline of government owned, foreclosed, or distressed homes to private equity firms, including through the Claims Without Conveyance of Title program.