Delivering the keynote address at the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) annual convention Thursday, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) acting Secretary Adrianne Todman applauded the organization for policies and practices advancing Black wealth as well as the Biden-Harris administration for “helping hundreds of thousands of families keep their homes when times were tough during the pandemic.”
During the address, Todman complimented the work of her predecessor, Marcia Fudge, in supporting family-friendly housing programs and improving such initiatives as housing counseling services.
“Things like when interest rates went up, it was our Vice President (Kamala Harris) who announced cuts in HUD’s mortgage fees … cuts that today has netted over $800 million in savings for homeowners,” Todman said. “Just in the past year, we changed the way that we looked at our underwriting. We got smart about how we looked at student loan debt and making if someone who is becoming a homeowner for the first time, the only thing they have to show is how they’ve paid their rent.”
Todman called NAREB President Courtney Johnson Rose an “extraordinary leader.”
“I met her for the first time last year, and she is rocking and rolling, [isn’t] she?” she said. “Yes, absolutely. So proud of her work.”
Todman also commended NAREB Executive Director Renee Wilson.
“For decades you have helped generations of Black people restore their faith in the American dream,” she said. “You’ve helped them build and rebuild wealth through home ownership and retain hope that our children and grandchildren can have the bright and successful future that they deserve. “Your commitment to pursuing democracy in housing has endured despite the obstacles, redlining and discrimination, predatory lending.”
During the convention, NAREB hosted a series of comprehensive panels, sessions, and workshops providing its members, known as Realtists, with data, counsel, and information that will better prepare them to assist consumers, particularly Black families, and individuals, with selling and buying homes, and building Black wealth, or instance.
“Our convention arms our Realtists with the knowledge and tools they need to work with Black consumers to increase Black homeownership,” Rose said. “Increasing homeownership and closing the racial wealth gap is essential for achieving true racial equality in America.”
Source: Washington Informer
