Written by: John Trasviña
Cross posted from WhiteHouse.gov

Assistant Secretary John Trasviña receives the Superhero Award from MomsRising

Bringing a new child into a family and buying a house are two momentous and happy occasions for any family. When HUD’s Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity (FHEO) learned that some mortgage lenders had policies or practices that make qualifying for a mortgage more difficult for pregnant women or parents on parental leave, we leapt into action. We knew that treating pregnant women and parents differently when issuing a mortgage could be a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender or family status, amongst other categories.

With the help of Moms Rising, a 1.1 million member strong virtual community, we are uncovering cases around the country. Our partners at Moms Rising describe the stories of mortgage discrimination their members report as “heartbreaking and infuriating.” I would add one more word: “Illegal.”

I got to know Dr. Elizabeth Budde, an Asian American immigrant who has become a top cancer researcher in Seattle. Dr. Budde initially received approval for a mortgage while she was pregnant, but the offer was rescinded when she took maternity leave after the birth of her child. Dr. Budde stepped forward to bring this issue to light, and inspired others to bring forward their own stories of discrimination. A dedicated team in our FHEO office is leading the way to provide relief to Dr. Budde and other victims of discriminatory mortgage policies and to foster industry changes so that families will no longer face roadblocks to qualifying for a mortgage.

This week, I accepted a Superhero Award from Moms Rising on behalf of our team, who did the real work. Together, all of us will continue to make progress for women and their families because fair treatment when getting a home loan is a real family value. Housing discrimination based on gender or against families with children was not covered when President Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law in 1968, but has since been added to the list of protected groups. These types of discrimination, along with disability, race, religious and national origin discrimination, constitute important parts of our work today.

For more information and HUD help on housing discrimination, call 1-800-669-9777 or visit www.hud.gov/fairhousing.

John Transviña is the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity administers and enforces federal laws and establishes policies that ensure all Americans have equal access to the housing of their choice. Prior to joining HUD, he was the president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

by Carmen Mercado

June is National Homeownership Month, a time reserved for honoring the symbol of stability for working families. This year, however, celebrations have been traded for defensive strategies as housing industry partners mobilize to defend broad access to homeownership now threatened by regulator rulemaking.

The proposed QRM risk retention rule now up for debate would require prospective borrowers to present a 20 percent down payment, spend less than 28 percent of their monthly gross income on housing and have total household debt capped at 26 percent.

Most people can’t afford a 20 percent down payment. In fact, a recent poll conducted by our friends at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling of mortgage borrowers came back with some surprising results. Over half of the 1000 people who participated in the survey said they would not be able to meet the down payment requirement to buy a home.

Framed another way: With renters having a median net worth of $5100, a recent white paper authored by the Mortgage Banker’s Association, the National Association of Homebuyers and the National Association of REALTORS estimated that it would take the average American family 16 years to save a 20 percent down payment for a median price home of $172,900. This essentially means that even the most creditworthy and diligent first-time homebuyer cannot qualify for the lowest rates and safest products.

Do you see where this is all going?

What would this do to home sales? How would this impact the recovery? What does this mean for depressed housing values? The answers are obvious. With the glut of homes on the market, with shuttered neighborhoods turning into ghost towns, we will make it more difficult for the next generation of buyers to get affordable financing.

This is like punishing America’s working class families for the sins of a few.

We are not standing still on this critical issue. The QRM rule has created an unprecedented alliance of dozens of civil rights, real estate, labor, mortgage and consumer advocacy groups and elected officials to speak out against this proposed regulation. NAHREP is part of this alliance. So are 320 members of the House and the Senate.

The heart and soul of this argument needs to come from you, the people who work in these communities. This is about more than just business; it’s about the future, long-term wealth and the quality of life we want our children and grandchildren to have.

Please join us in taking a stand in defense of homeownership now. Get informed! Download the White Paper from the Coalition For Sensible policy here. When you receive a call to arms from NAHREP, please take action. Your defense of homeownership now can make all the difference to tomorrow’s homebuyers.

Carmen Mercado is the president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. For a copy of “Proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage Definition Harms Creditworthy Borrowers While Frustrating Housing Recovery” from the Coalition For Sensible Housing Policy go to www.nahrep.org/coalition-against-proposed-qrm.php.

by John Beneventi

Let’s face it, at times we all have engaged in deficit spending, especially in the real estate business where times can be lean between closings. While some deficits are good, deficits by nature are risky and can take away future wealth building opportunities. To properly manage your business and personal finances, like anything else, you need to pay attention to the details and update your expectations frequently. Here are some things that you should consider when contemplating the affect of the real estate downturn on your business:

1. Income Trend: Start by clearly defining your last two years gross income. Has it gone down? If so, it is likely that you will continue to experience continued decline even if it is slight. When working on your financial predictions (i.e. annual budget) plan on the worst case income scenario. Read the rest of this entry »

by Yamila Ayad

Tweet

Somebody pinch me please, because I feel like I’m having a bad dream.

In the shadow of the nation’s worst housing crisis, is it really possible that our nation’s lawmakers stripped away $88 million in funding for the HUD housing counseling services now available to the public? http://ow.ly/4EHQ8

Budget cuts are one thing — and necessary indeed to get the country back on track — but isn’t this cutting off our nose to spite our face? Seriously. Whatever figures you use — the latest research shows that the foreclosure crisis is far from over. http://ow.ly/4EHYs An estimated 2.5 million foreclosures have occurred, with another 5.7 million forecasted to happen before its over.

In my local community of San Diego, entire neighborhoods have been decimated by the foreclosure crisis. Back in 2007, I founded a mobile foreclosure prevention counseling community service (Home Owners Mobile Education Clinic) because I couldn’t serve the volume of distressed homeowners coming to my office in need of counseling.

To date, the HOME Clinic has served about 9,000 families and has delivered help to distressed homeowners thanks to the help of local HUD counselors. I shudder to think about where these families would have turned had these services not been available. Read the rest of this entry »

by Alejandro Becerra

A few weeks ago the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) released a major report which identified the major causes of one of the worst economic crises in the nation’s history: More than 26 million Americans are out of work, four million families have lost their homes, and nearly $11 trillion in household wealth has been lost.

What did the Washington Post do about reporting this important story? The Post buried it on page A14, while prominently displaying on its front page a story about the Senate Tea Party Caucus meeting for the first time. Worse, the Post’s reporters undercut the report’s significance by suggesting that the report did not contain “any major revelation that would fundamentally alter popular perceptions of the crisis.”

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by Alex Chaparro

The midterm elections have brought into focus some interesting issues for the Hispanic community this year. Anti-immigrant sentiments have been part of the campaign rhetoric in states across the country as candidates hurl accusations and negative Hispanic images at one another. Arizona’s SB1070 law has sanctioned anti-Latino attitudes. http://ow.ly/2XuRp The slurs and innuendo are downright offensive, insulting and impossible to ignore.

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by Alex Chaparro

Within days of major lenders putting foreclosures on hold, I began to hear from NAHREP members about the problems the embargo was causing new buyers in the hardest hit markets. Like you, I was relieved to hear the news that the White House opposes a national foreclosure moratorium and applaud the Administration for not overreacting to the recent document/recordkeeping issues. http://ow.ly/2WLYx The unintended consequences of a broader moratorium would certainly deal a blow to an already fragile housing market.

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by Alejandro Becerra

An effective new national housing policy requires balancing affordable quality rental housing and sustainable homeownership goals. Public perception of an existing imbalance results from misunderstanding the effectiveness of our current policy. Advocates of rental housing incorrectly compare the total government funding available to support homeownership for all households with the tax incentives and subsidies available only for low- and moderate-income renter households.

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by Alex Chaparro

Recently I appeared on Chicago TV news show Garrard McClendon Live http://ow.ly/2AJwG to offer comment on a high profile court case involving a Chicago couple and two real estate practitioners who have been charged with violating the Fair Housing Act. The sellers refused to sell a home listed for $1.7 million to local radio personality and comedian George Willborn and his wife, a businesswoman. The Willborns are African American.

HUD’s investigation of the case showed that the owners expressed a preference to their Realtor not to sell their home to an African-American. The case just goes to show that discrimination can happen in any price range. This is an important reminder why the Fair Housing Act is so important to preventing discrimination in the sale, lease, or rental of housing. No one is immune to bigotry. It’s time we make a stand and view this as a call to action. We must say clearly and without reservation, “NO!” we will not stand for discrimination in housing. One report or one conviction is one too many!

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by Alex Chaparro

By day, I’m a real estate broker in Chicago where I specialize in REO listings. Like those of you who are also working in this space, part of what comes with the job is often the unpleasant task of advising delinquent homeowners that it’s time to leave their homes. The offer: financial incentives for relocation or more commonly known as “cash for keys.”

This week during one of those visits I encountered a Latino homeowner, who emphatically claimed that he had hired a “professional” firm to negotiate a loan modification for him after the foreclosure sale. I knew from the paperwork I had in hand that it was too late for any modification to help this client save his home. The trouble was that he had paid a firm $1,500 cash to help him. They promised him they would save his family’s home.

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