Senators Kaine and Hatch release anti-discrimination bill

In a bipartisan effort, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2018 to protect veterans and low-income families who use housing vouchers from housing discrimination. The bill would prohibit discrimination based on source of income or veteran status by adding these as protected classes under the Fair Housing Act. The Act, which celebrated its 50 ^th anniversary this year, currently includes protections against discrimination based on race or color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability.

Disaster declaration provides aid to wildfire victims

With wildfires burning thousands of homes in California and hundreds of thousands residents evacuated, President Trump has issued a major disaster declaration for Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. This allows HUD to provide aid for homeowners and low-income renters that are impacted by the fires, including immediate foreclosure relief, mortgage insurance and information on housing providers and HUD programs. 

JCHS releases “Housing America’s Older Adults 2018” report

A new report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) finds that half of U.S. households are headed by someone over age 50 and the number of households age 80 and over will more than double by the year 2037. The study also highlights a historically high gap in homeownership rates for older whites and blacks. While 81 percent of white households age 50 and over own their homes, only 57 percent of older black households are owners. This 24-percentage point gap is the largest disparity since recordkeeping began in 1976. These and other findings from the report indicate a greater demand for supportive and accessible housing for seniors in years to come.  

Federal judge rejects New York public housing overhaul 

 

In an unexpected ruling, a federal judge in New York has rejected a consent decree that would have injected $2 billion into renovations and upgrades at New York City Housing Authority’s properties and subjected the authority to oversight by a court appointed monitor. The deal was originally struck earlier this year after the U.S. Attorney’s office filed suit against the authority for misconduct and poor management. In the new ruling, the judge suggested that HUD should be more involved in the eventual solution. The parties have until December to submit statements on how to proceed.

Race plays a major role in eviction

A report from the RVA Eviction Lab shows that eviction is about more than just poverty and nonpayment of rent. The report examines neighborhood-level eviction data and what factors have measurable effects on the eviction rate. The analysis shows that neighborhood racial composition is a significant factor in determining eviction rates, even after controlling for income, property value and other characteristics.

NCSHA releases Opportunity Zone fund directory

NHC member the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) released an online directory of multi-project Opportunity Zone funding opportunities with contact information and details such as geographic coverage and investment focus. The directory currently covers 39 publicly-announced funds and will be updated periodically. 

GSEs are on track for common MBS by June

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) finds in its latest update on the Single Security Initiative and Common Securitization Platform that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are on track to implement their Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (MBS) by June 3, 2019. FHFA expects the new system, which would replace the separate securities currently issued by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), to increase the efficiency, resiliency and liquidity of the mortgage market.