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Wholeheartedly support Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which play an important role in generating economic growth and opportunity in some of America’s most distressed communities.
Encourage more banks to engage in Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) lending, where financial institutions commit to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
Require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to partner more with banks that conduct Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) lending.
Create a less complicated and less-burdensome supervisory and regulatory process for community banks.
Increase access to mortgages for “small dollar” homes (homes that are less than $150,000) that already exist. Reduce Dodd-Frank restrictions on community banks and credit unions so they will make these loans.
Increase access to home improvement loans, especially for small dollar homes that would not pass inspection criteria to qualify for a mortgage.
Change loan-officer compensation practices to a flat fee for every loan made rather than compensation based on a percentage of the mortgage to encourage loan officers to offer/make small-loans.
Find a better balance between overly restrictive credit requirements and giving borrowers the opportunity for sustainable home-ownership. However, DO NOT even come close to repeating the mistakes of the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis.
Enthusiastically support microlending impact funds, which are investment vehicles that focus on providing small loans to people or businesses in underserved communities who lack access to traditional banking. The goal is to create a positive social impact while also enjoying a financial return.
Encourage states to start social innovation funds.
Lobby corporations and banks to commit 2 percent of their annual profits to capitalize financial institutions that service minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
Lobby corporate America and banks to invest in banking, telecom, technology, education, and health care infrastructure to benefit minority communities.
Extend the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility to leverage these types of loans from banks and corporate America.
Create a refundable housing credit for all homeowners that would allow more taxpayers to enjoy the housing benefits of the tax code.
Reduce poverty by providing an enhanced minimum benefit for low-wage workers.
Reinstate the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and make it permanent.
Overhaul the Opportunity Zone program, a program that incentivizes people to invest in distressed areas across the country. Add public reporting, terminate high-income zones, and prohibit casinos, stadiums and luxury apartments.
Reboot the My Retirement Account (myRA) to provide a safe and portable savings accounts for workers with low wages.
Establish universal Children’s Savings Accounts (a.k.a. baby bonds) for every American child at birth.
Allow families who participate in public benefit programs to have at least three month’s income in savings.
Expand the Saver’s Credit and make it refundable, which will create more accessibility for more low-wage families.
Let go of the old-school “white-picket-fence” image of what home ownership was in the past and embrace every type of housing – including everything from single-family homes to townhouses to high-rise apartments.
Improve the FHA Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program, which insures mortgages covering the purchase or refinancing and rehabilitation of a home that is at least a year old.
Empower the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to improve its underwriting process and make it more flexible, and address appraisal gap issues that are often found in low-cost markets.
Champion the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program to increase a family’s earned income and reduce their dependency on government assistance and rental subsidies.
Increase Housing Mobility-Related Services Notice of Funding Opportunity to the Community Choice Demonstration to expand housing choices for Housing Choice Voucher families by increasing their access to opportunity neighborhoods with high-performing schools, access to jobs, low crime, parks, and other amenities.
Have the Bureau of Land Management auction off land suitable for residential development.
Encourage cities and states to launch initiatives that invest in new housing construction, with a focus on starter homes.
Incentivize cities and states to ease up on land use restrictions and other undue regulations, which is decimating housing affordability.
Incentivize cities and states to provide a broader and more affordable range of housing options to alleviate tight housing market conditions.
Incentivize cities and states to modernize zoning laws and code requirements and to streamline permitting processes.
Recommend that city and state governments endorse smaller lot size limits for new construction.
Urge states to look closely at state-level zoning preemption programs that have the effect of banning single-family zoning. This is a necessary step because, as of 2019, 75 percent of the residential land in America was zoned exclusively for single-family use. Zoning that does not allow for any multifamily development to this degree is unsustainable as our population continues to grow.
Not only have decades of single-family zoning regulations severely limited the housing supply and artificially raised prices, but they have made housing exclusionary, perpetuating racial and class segregation and preventing families from living in neighborhoods with better schools and job opportunities.
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