NAC Blog: Emerging Opportunities in Home Building

NAC

As you know, NAHREP, a 22-year-old organization, has a clear mission to advance sustainable Hispanic homeownership. NAHREP’s Policy Department, a wing of the organization that I started 4 years ago, is still a kid in comparison to the broader organization. But, like the organization, it is important that the department also has a clear mission statement. I would say that the NAHREP Policy Department’s mission is to advance sustainable Hispanic homeownership through advocacy, thought leadership, stakeholder relationships, research, and education.

NAC Blog: NAHREP Virtual Capitol Hill Visits

NAC

This week the NAHREP familia took Congress by storm, meeting with a total of 53 U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators, 20 of which are member meetings. That means an actual Member of Congress joined almost half of our meetings! This is probably the most member meetings we’ve had since I joined NAHREP. This is a testament, I believe, to the work we’ve been doing at the National Advocacy Committee to increase our footprint and relationships in Congress. Your voices matter. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, we can complain all day long or we can use our voices and experiences to put pressure on the individuals who can actually do something about the problem.

NAC Blog: Dispelling Myths About FHA

NAC

Latinos are twice as likely to purchase a home using Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans compared to non-Hispanic White households. However, Latino households using FHA loans faced the steepest hurdles in getting their offers accepted last year. If you read the 2021 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, you know that Latinos were 81 percent more likely to get denied for conventional home purchase loans than non-Latinos, so for many first-time homebuyers, FHA loans were the only option.

NAC Blog: Immigration and investment properties, good news and a nail-biter

NAC

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Well, at NAHREP, every month is Hispanic Heritage Month. T-minus 13 days until NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE! For those of you who have attended the NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE conference in San Diego before but have never left downtown, please make it a point to go to our beaches! They are truly some of the greatest gems we have in the country and given everything we have all been through these past two years, lost loved ones, life turned upside down, we all need some TLC.

NAC Blog: The latest on CRA

NAC

A few weeks ago, the National Advocacy Committee Regionals met for a virtual retreat to plan out the year and dream big goals for what we can accomplish as we grow our advocacy operation. As we prepare for a year of big legislative fights, such as increasing housing inventory and passing immigration reform, we need to be prepared and ready to wield the power of our people when it counts. One of the primary ways in which we do that is through growing our National Advocacy Committee, individuals that have raised their hand to join our advocacy efforts. If you are receiving this blog post via email, you’ve likely already joined the NAC. You know the drill, you’re a rock star! If you’re reading this through social media, we invite you to join today.

NAC Blog: A new President and a flurry of executive actions, the fate of the GSEs & NAHREP CA takes on housing inventory

NAC

Today we wake up to a new President. Yesterday we saw the first Latina Supreme Court Justice swear in the first woman of color to the office of Vice President, and J-Lo reclaimed our place in this country by singing “This Land is Our Land.” So much to unpack there. However, between last week and this week a whole lotta POLICY that applies to our mission happened so let’s get right to it.

NAC Blog: TRIVIA Time: Qualified Mortgage

NAC

It’s time for some policy trivia! Question: What has been one of our top policy priorities on access to credit over the past 2 years? Answer: The expiration of the QM patch and the new definition of Qualified Mortgage! Question: What government agency has jurisdiction over defining what loans are considered “Qualifed Mortgage”?Answer: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB

NAC Blog: NAHREP Urges Changes to GSE Capital Rule

NAC

I cannot believe it is already September. It’s back to school time, or back to zoom time? Mad respect to all of the parents out there for balancing rock star careers while “staffing” your kids while they sit in front a zoom classroom cross eyed making faces at each other. Dogs barking, kids screaming, life happening: life, work, blurred lines all around. It’s called 2020 damas y caballeros, and this madness is feeling weirdly familiar now. Speaking of which, who can tell me their most embarrassing “zoom school” related story? I could really use the humor right now!

NAC Blog: Community Reinvestment Act, an interview with Josh Silver from NCRC

NAC

¿Cómo andamos? Before we get into this week’s policy discussion, I want to take a moment to recognize a very exciting thing that happened recently. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the establishment of a National Museum of the American Latino. I had the privilege of working on a bill that explored this possibility back in 2005 with then Congressman Xavier Becerra. It has been a long time coming, and today we are one step closer that museum being a reality.

NAC Blog: QM Patch is getting extended and replaced

NAC

So I’ve been doing this thing lately with my cookbooks during quarantine. I make the recipe and in the margins of the cookbook I’ll jot down whether or not I liked it along with a note about what happened that day. It can be anything from something historical happening like, “the Supreme Court ruled on DACA today”, or something silly like, “today I got a facemask tan after I spent the day outside.”