In one of the Trump administration’s last acts, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) declared that the Federal Housing Administration will once again back mortgages for immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. HUD said DACA recipients who are legally permitted to work in the U.S. are eligible to apply […]
Trump Scraps Fair Housing Rule
Trump and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, led by Ben Carson, last week officially scrapped a rule meant to ensure compliance with the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Enshrined in 2015, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing policy held communities accountable for providing fair housing by requiring any town that wanted to receive HUD […]
New FHA Loans: Some See Risks, Others Revival
The Trump administration is vastly expanding the scope of condominium purchases eligible for lower-down-payment loans. The move, announced Aug. 14 by the Federal Housing Administration, could help revive the entry-level condo market for first-time buyers because FHA-backed loans require only a 3.5% down payment and lower credit score than conventional loans. It also loosens financial-crisis-era […]
Where Presidential Candidates Stand on Housing
The affordable housing crisis is squeezing the middle class and the poor alike. The Trump administration has targeted rental-assistance and public housing programs for cuts, which some Democrats are saying put low-income Americans at risk of eviction, making housing policy a major issue in the 2020 election. Curbed is following where the candidates stand on […]
Carson Named Affordable Housing Council Chair
President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing, and named HUD Secretary Ben Carson as its chairperson. According to HUD, the new Council will be composed of members from eight Federal agencies, intended to engage with State, local, and tribal leaders across the country […]
FHA Promises Condo Flexibility
Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Brian Montgomery recently told attendees at the National Association of REALTORS® meetings in Washington D.C. that the agency is working to revise its condominium approval rules and expects a final rule to be announced soon. Montgomery called condos a “mainstay of affordable housing” for seniors and first-time buyers. Among the proposed […]
Plan to Weaken Housing Discrimination Regulations
There have been several attempts to rollback fair housing regulations since Ben Carson took over as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in January 2017, and a recent Justice Department memo signals a renewed push to undermine a key legal tool used to sue landlords, insurance companies, and lenders for practices that […]
HUD Seeks to Scale Back Housing Rule
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is taking steps to scale back a fair housing rule that had sought to combat housing segregation. HUD Secretary Ben Carson says the 2015 rule is standing in the way of efforts to add more affordable housing. The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule required cities and towns to […]
Senate HUD Choice Good for R.E.
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Pam Patenaude as deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a choice the National Association of REALTORS® and other real estate groups say will be good for homeownership. Patenaude previously served at HUD as its deputy secretary for field policy and management from 2001 to 2007, […]