HUD Touts ‘Unprecedented’ Homeownership Achievements
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said its efforts to reduce barriers to homeownership have helped millions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said the department has successfully worked with several other federal agencies, including the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) and the Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) to help millions of Americans obtain or maintain homeownership.
Fudge, in looking back at the past three years, said despite that all of the challenges – including Covid-19, a shortage of affordable housing and increasing home prices – HUD has expanded access to homeownership, supported home retention and addressed racial bias.
“At HUD, we have successfully implemented programs that have kept people in their homes and advanced opportunities for families of all incomes, especially low- and moderate-income families,” she said.
Some of the department’s achievements include:
- Saving some 425,000 borrowers more than $336 million aggregate in the first year of their mortgages thanks to a 35% reduction in the pricing of FHA mortgage insurance premiums started in March. “FHA estimates the total cost savings over the forecasted life of these mortgages is up to $1.9 billion.” HUD said.
- Expanding access to homeownership by reducing obstacles – including updating a policy regarding the treatment of student loan debt in FHA-insured mortgage underwriting so all borrowers were being evaluated fairly and allowing a borrower’s positive rental history to be included in the mortgage-evaluation process.
- Updating policies to ensure domestic violence survivors with FHA-insured mortgages can access loss-mitigation programs to help retain their homes and avoid foreclosure.
- Helping almost two million FHA and ONAP homeowners affected by COVID-19 obtain forbearances to stay in their homes as they looked for options to bring their mortgages current.
- Leading the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) task force, an interagency group aimed at rooting out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations.
- Clarifying that the Special Purpose Credit Programs, authorized by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, are not prohibited by the Fair Housing Act, which has opened new lending programs for underserved households and communities.
“Under Secretary Fudge's leadership, the Federal Housing Administration has exhibited an unprecedented commitment to furthering homeownership for more of the nation's families,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon. “With this commitment, we've been able to remove many barriers to homeownership and wealth building, particularly for households of color, through FHA programs.”
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