Millions of Americans are underwater on their mortgages, millions more can’t get a loan to buy a house, and more than 7 million renters lack access to affordable housing. Many working families, veterans, the mentally ill and the poor are living in their cars, in homeless shelters, or simply out on the street.
Working together, this is what we need to do to address the affordable housing crisis:
Help Underwater Homeowners and Renters
- We need to increase funding for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This will address the affordable housing crisis and create millions of good paying jobs.
- Raise the minimum wage.
- Reinvigorate federal housing production programs.
- Defend Fair Housing.
- Demand more from Affordable Housing Developers. Housing that is built with government subsidies should remain affordable much longer.
- Repair Public Housing.
- Protect Rental Assistance by providing full funding to all existing project-based rental assistance contracts.
- Expand Housing Choice Initiative.
- Stabilize monthly pad fees for manufactured home parks at the federal level.
Promote Homeownership and Support First Time Homebuyers
- Expand the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and USDA Rural Development assistance programs for first time homeownership.
- Expand Pre-purchase Housing Counseling.
- Implement Credit Score Reform.
- Prevent Predatory Lending. We need to work toward requiring that all mortgage costs are clear, risks are visible, and nothing is buried in fine print.
- Protect Homeowner Mortgage Interest Benefits by supporting tax policies that promote homeownership for middle and low-income homeowners while closing the second-home and yacht loophole.
- We need to expand homeowner mortgage interest benefits to eligible homeowners who do not itemize their taxes.
- Reinvigorate The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) which was designed to assist homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments but owe more than their home is worth.
- Expand Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling.
