As Pam Patenaude prepares to depart from her role as Deputy Secretary of HUD, NAHREP looks back on her involvement with NAHREP for Puerto Rico’s recovery after Hurricane Maria. Alongside 2018 NAHREP President Daisy Lopez-Cid, Patenaude addressed NAHREP members in Puerto Rico on December 7 in San Juan at ¡Puerto Rico Se Levanta! regarding the $20 billion dollars allocated by HUD for Puerto Rico recovery efforts.
“I want to thank Deputy Secretary Pam Patenaude for agreeing to speak to our members in Puerto Rico, as the scars left by Hurricane Maria are still being felt,” said Daisy Lopez-Cid, NAHREP 2018 President. “NAHREP’s mission is to advance sustainable Hispanic homeownership because we see it as the primary conduit to economic mobility. Given the housing instability that still remains throughout Puerto Rico, supporting recovery efforts for the residents of Puerto Rico remains as a top priority to our organization.”
Prior to the public event, Deputy Secretary Patenaude and HUD Puerto Rico Field Director Efraín Maldonado took part in a historic meeting alongside Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló and Secretary of Housing Fernando Gil Enseñat with all major Puerto Rican housing organizations, development, real estate, and mortgage businesses, as well as the Banco Popular and the Puerto Rican Mortgage Bankers Association. Special thanks to Executive Director Marisa Calderon, SVP Public Policy and Industry Relations Noerena Limón, NAHREP Puerto Rico 2018 President Eric Haddock and NAHREP Puerto Rico 2018 President-Elect Enrique Morales.
The Governor’s Plan for Recovery and Reconstruction of Puerto Rico is still being reviewed by HUD, and includes programs such as the Mortgage Catch Up program to address the rash of imminent foreclosures as the moratorium has expired. Patenaude noted that $25 million of the $18.5 billion block grant will focus on housing counseling, and another amount be dedicated to the title issue, as about 200,000 people have homes that are currently without titles. NAHREP will be providing the secretary with a flow chart of how the title program would all work and possible bottlenecks to account for.
