Rapid Fire: State and Federal Housing
The Ohio Housing Conference kicked off at 9:00 this morning with a message from Senator Rob Portman speaking on affordable housing and eviction support.
The first panel of the day was supported by a cast of players whose backgrounds are diverse, but who have the same goals in Affordable Housing. The main topic was “Build Back Better”. This is an ever-evolving topic that seems to change daily. The bill has been passed by the House and is now going to the Senate for approval. The general opinion of the group is that they think it will be close to the end of the year before we see any resolution of this bill.
Stockton Williams, Executive Director of NCSHA spoke on Rental Affordable Housing Resources and how some of the money for this would be used. He stated that there will be $500 million to be used for Housing Counseling.
Stockton mentioned that Sandra Thompson, the head of FHFA, has a focus on expanding housing for minorities. She has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to focus on affordable housing for minorities and previously red-lined borrowers.
The session was jam packed with information and the speakers were captivating.
A great kick off to the conference!
A second session was Boosting Black Homeownership with CONVERGENCE Columbus. Convergence is a multi-sector initiative to promote Black homeownership launched by the MBA in partnership with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at THE Ohio State University.
This entity was brought int existence in December of 2019. They are focused on assisting Black potential homebuyers navigate through the process. There has been a lot of discrimination in the home buying field, and they are working on “Levers of Change” which include: Outreach and Education, Products & Programs, Housing Supply Pilot, Preservation & Sustainability and building an Evaluation Framework.
They are hoping to be able to create some loan products that are viable and still fit GSE guidelines to help these potential borrowers.
A very knowledgeable group of panelists made this session noteworthy.