News

The moratoriums are a temporary remedy that could lead to a bigger problem for renters asked to quickly catch up on missed payments when the bans lift, said David Dworkin, president of the National Housing Conference, which has called for the creation of a large-scale rental assistance program. “This is a once-in-a-100-year pandemic. It is not unreasonable to expect the government to cover” lost rental income, he said.

“Scrapping the rule would completely remove an incentive for state and local entities getting federal money from HUD to engage in equitable housing practices.” – David M. Dworkin

“Systemic racism must be fought systematically. Our country needs to take intentional steps to produce tangible, economic gains for Americans who remain in the shadow of social injustice. One place to start is in housing.”

“I’m concerned it’s an ideological assault on the housing economy, and it will result in extending the recession significantly. Housing has been a historic component of post-recession recovery and this rule makes that impossible.” – David M. Dworkin

“Document every conversation and follow up in a letter or email noting what was discussed in your phone call. This will help you and the next person you talk to when you call back or they call you.”- David M. Dworkin

“I told him: This is a legacy opportunity. If you do this right, no one will touch it for 15 or 20 years. There are many people who believe that he wanted to gut C.R.A. I can’t make that judgment, but I can say that what he has done will gut it.” – David M. Dworkin

“In a letter from April 8, the National Housing Conference responded to proposed changes to CRA rulemaking, stating that ‘we have no idea how severely the pandemic will impact our economy, the financial system and communities throughout the nation. Committing resources to regulatory initiatives that do not directly support our national response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a dangerous distraction.”

“Banks, regulators and community groups must be singularly focused on responding to this unprecedented crisis, and not on bureaucratic and regulatory diversions that will sidetrack essential resources from the task at hand.” David M. Dworkin

“While some constructive changes have been made to the proposed rule, the fundamental basis of our objections remain intact as the final rule demonstrably guts the purpose and intent of the CRA. In many ways, the rule reduces the clarity and consistency that served as the impetus to modernize CRA in the first place.” – David M. Dworkin

“Housing construction is going to play a critical role in getting people back to work,. It really reframes the whole conversation because it’s not just a housing issue. It’s a jobs issue. There are going to be millions of people who need to go back to work, who are not going to have jobs, and we have a pre-existing shortage of affordable housing.” – David M. Dworkin