As policymakers and practitioners address the nation’s shortage of affordable housing, including housing available for affordable homeownership, they face several headwinds, such as inflationary pressures, mounting climate risks, and the potential for further economic cooling. The lack of housing supply combined with rising interest rates is pushing access to high-quality homeownership even further out of reach for many households, especially households of color. Despite these challenges, nonprofit organizations and community development financial institutions continue to innovate, leveraging new federal policy changes and investments to create new housing that addresses the supply gap, improves resilience to climate risks, and meets the unique homeownership needs of those most often denied the opportunity. 

Please join the Urban Institute and practitioners from across the country to understand the innovative ways they are addressing housing supply and affordability challenges, creating new forms of climate-resilient housing options, and leveraging federal flexibilities to overcome barriers in local contexts.

Efforts to close the historically large Black-white homeownership gap should consider the fact that many Black households are headed by immigrants, particularly in the Northeast, Texas, and Florida. In this talk, Sharon Cornelissen, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center, will discuss findings from “Black Immigrant Homeownership: National Trends and the Case of Metro Boston,” a paper she co-authored with Daniel McCue and Raheem Hanifa. She will discuss the growing number of Black immigrant households, show which groups of Black immigrants have become homeowners, where they have done so, and explore how these trends are playing out in greater Boston. She will also discuss how policymakers might take the strengths and challenges of Black immigrants into account as they work to support and expand Black homeownership.

Registration required.

Join the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) for a hearing about appraisal bias. This hearing will define the role of the ASC and its authorities and will feature a panel of witnesses familiar with appraisal transactions, including a lender, an appraiser, a homeowner, and an academic to give an overall view of appraisal bias based on statistical analyses. These individuals will help the ASC to more deeply explore the scope of appraisal bias and its impacts from a range of perspectives. Based on the information gathered, the ASC may hold additional hearings on targeted topics in appraisal bias.

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST. Members of the public are invited to listen to the hearing and provide written comments. Comments can be submitted to AppraisalBiasHearing@asc.gov until February 8, 2023.

The hearing will be livestreamed on the CFPB website but requires an RSVP. Please register if you plan to attend or view the hearing. RSVP here.

If you require a reasonable accommodation in order to attend this event, please contact CFPB_ReasonableAccommodations@cfpb.gov 72 hours prior to the start of this event.

This announcement will be updated with more details as they become available.

More information about the Appraisal Subcommittee can be found here .

Join BPC’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy for a virtual fireside chat with Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford on November 3. In addition to Habitat’s well-known home construction program, the nonprofit also plays an important role in neighborhood revitalization, mortgage financing, and public policy advocacy. Next week’s conversation will address how Habitat is working to enhance housing affordability for families in the U.S. and worldwide.

Featured Participants

Jonathan Reckford | Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity

@JReckford

Dennis Shea | Executive Director, J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC

@DennisCShea_

Columbus REALTORS® Sustainability Forum and the Housing Affordability & Community Partnership Committee are co-hosting a discussion of tiny homes as an alternative, affordable and energy efficient housing choice for prospective buyers who may be priced out of traditional housing. We will tackle the affordability crisis one tiny home at a time.

This event will feature a panel of experts and will take place at Columbus REALTORS®. Attendees will get a glimpse into the tiny home lifestyle -- what it is, how they are designed, who they are for, financing and much more. We will also have a tiny home built by MODERN TINY LIVING on site to visit as well.

Speakers include Emmanuel Remy, Columbus City Council; Bob Weiler, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus, and Franklin County; Juan Perez, a Columbus Attorney with Perez & Morris LLC, and a Partner in the Vista Village Tiny Home project; Mike Evans, First Financial Bank Financing; and Bruce Faris, Architect and Co-Founder of Modern Tiny Living.

The cost of this event is a $10 donation. All proceeds will go to the Columbus REALTORS® Foundation whose mission is to support real estate-related programs and qualified entities whose goals are to improve the overall real estate environment in central Ohio. Register today, as seating is limited!

The City of Columbus, Grants Management Section would like to invite you to the first public meeting for the 2023 Annual Action Plan to review and discuss proposed programs for Department of Housing and Urban Development grant funds. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 18th at 5:30pm, in the garage conference room at 141 N. Front St. Parking is available in the garage, and the conference room is located on the first floor.

This year, we received 37 Community Development Block Grant applications from external agencies and 12 from internal departments, making this the most competitive applicant pool the City has seen for CDBG funding. We are still carefully considering all of these applications and have not made any final selections yet. Projects for the HOPWA, HOME, and ESG grants are also being presented.

Please join us on Tuesday if you are interested in learning about the project proposals we received for 2023 funding. A summary of all project proposals will be available on our website: https://www.columbus.gov/finance/financial-management-group/Grants-Management/. We will be accepting public comments on the proposed projects until October 24th. Comments may be sent to grantsmgmt@columbus.gov.

Date: Friday, March 18, 2022Time: 12:15-1:15 pm ET

Location: Virtual

Speaker(s): Jenny Schuetz, Christian Dorsey

The nation’s growing geographic, economic, and demographic divides are reflected in and exacerbated by inequalities in housing markets, argues Jenny Schuetz in her new book, Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. At this event, Schuetz, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro (and former Meyer Fellow at the Center), will discuss the structural problems within US housing systems that contribute to widely disparate outcomes. In addition, she will offer practical—but politically challenging—policy changes than can help build a more equitable and healthy country by providing stable, decent-quality, affordable housing for all. Christian Dorsey, Vice-Chair of the Arlington (VA) County Board and Chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, will draw on his experiences as an elected official to comment on Schuetz’s presentation.

This event will be held on Zoom; registration is required.

This webinar will provide a brief overview of how counseling practitioners distinguish the line between the provision of housing counseling and the practice of law. Covered topics include instances where a housing counselor and the client may benefit from the assistance of an attorney (both pre and post judgment); and how to discuss the concept of limited representation to clients. Participants will learn the meaning of limited representation, how to explain the concept in layman’s terms to clients, and how and when to make referrals to attorneys.

The Beloved Community

Learn about how to get involved at an upcoming virtual interest meeting! Register below by clicking the date you'd like to join.  After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting

January 19, 12pm 

January 28, 11am

January 29, 10am

“Habitat for Humanity is propelled by a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We devote ourselves to creating that world because we believe everyone — every single one of us, regardless of who we are or where we come from — deserves a decent life and deserves the opportunity for a better future.  Believing is not enough. And so we build.

We build houses — and through those houses, the strength, stability, and self-reliance that families need in order to achieve a better life. That better life is our primary goal. And so when we build houses, we also build bridges between people of diverse backgrounds, we build paths to more connected communities, we build ways for all people to come together and share in the creation of a new world.

That new world allows access, equality and opportunity for all. That new world represents what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called ‘the beloved community.’

The beloved community is fair. The beloved community is just. And the beloved community is built on love.

Born from that vision, Habitat believes that making homeownership accessible and affordable for low-income families is a critical component to creating the kind of future that Dr. King envisioned.”  Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International

Made possible by an anonymous donor, the Beloved Community House will bring together people from all walks of life to address the housing crisis facing our community by building a home alongside a Central Ohio family.

Volunteers Needed!

• Individuals and groups (6-10 per day) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays throughout the build from 8:30AM-4:00PM

• Volunteers must be at least 16 years old

• Skilled guidance, tools, safety equipment, and materials provided

• Volunteers will begin building in February

• No previous experience is necessary

Not interested in building?  Volunteers are also needed for providing lunches.  To learn more about these opportunities, please contact Deb Light at dlight@habitatmidohio.org or 614-364-7020.

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Bank of America opportunity for students 

Through Student Leaders®, Bank of America recognizes high school students who lead and serve in their own communities and beyond and connecting Student Leaders to tools and resources to help make communities better. 

Every year, hundreds of community-minded high schoolers are accepted into the Student Leaders program.  They get first-hand experience in serving their communities through a paid eight-week internship with nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity.

The program is open to high school juniors and seniors in Franklin, Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Hamilton counties.  Deadline to apply is January 28, 2022. 

Click here to learn more about this opportunity

DONATE TODAY

Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio

Family & Program Center, powered by the AEP Foundation

6665 Busch Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43229

www.HabitatMidOhio.org

(614) 422-4828

Conventional wisdom is that high home prices are to blame for declining homeownership rates over the last 15 years. But in fact, an elusive barrier is also stopping millions of would-be homeowners: banks are increasingly unwilling to write small dollar mortgages.

Nearly 20 percent of all owner-occupied homes are valued at $100,000 or less. These “small dollar homes” provide a critical source of housing for low-and-moderate income families. Yet, for a variety of reasons, including unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act, banks are opting out of writing small dollar loans.

The financial and societal effects of this lending hole are enormous—families who can otherwise afford homes are forced to continue renting or enter into predatory financing arrangements. Black and Latinx households are disproportionately affected by the dearth of small loans and are prevented from building home wealth for future generations.

Please join us for an online event that will highlight findings from a report by New America's Future of Land and Housing program and the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility at Winston Salem State University examining the causes and consequences of the unavailability of small dollar mortgages nationally and in Winston-Salem, N.C. A panel of experts will take on this complex issue, merging local and national perspectives, and grapple with where we go from here.

Agenda

Opening Remarks:

Yuliya Panfil, Director, Future of Land and Housing, New America

Craig Richardson, Director, Center for the Study of Economic Mobility, Winston-Salem State University

Tracy Maguze, Officer, Home Financing, Pew Charitable Trusts

Overview of Report Findings: Homeownership and the Hidden Mortgage Hurdle:

Sabiha Zainulbhai, Senior Policy Analyst, Future of Land and Housing, New America

Zach Blizard, Research Manager, Center for the Study of Economic Mobility, Winston-Salem State University

Panel Discussion:

Ben Eisen, Banking Reporter, Wall Street Journal

Linna Zhu, Research Associate, Urban Institute

Jada Mclean, Co-founder, Hurry Home

Neal Parnell, Chief Sales Officer, Piedmont Federal Savings Bank

Malcom Glenn, Fellow at Future of Land and Housing, New America and Director of Public Affairs, Better (moderator)

Q&A

Closing the homeownership gap is essential to closing the country’s racial wealth gap. Homeownership is the biggest creator of wealth—more than income or access to higher education—and the Black-white homeownership gap is larger than it was in 1968. Ensuring greater access to homeownership is also crucial to making housing more affordable for communities of color and families with lower incomes. Black and Latino homeowners pay less of their income on housing than all renters, including white renters. Owners with low incomes pay 10 percentage points less of their income on housing than do renters with low incomes.

Join the Urban Institute for a virtual event exploring data and research on why homeownership is so much more affordable than renting and a robust discussion of what can be done to increase access to homeownership. We will discuss not only what the federal government can do, but what states, local governments, and organizations such as community development financial institutions can do now by tapping into available resources.

This webinar covers how to create effective partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Homeownership is a critical wealth-building tool, but not everyone has the same opportunities to become a homeowner. To better understand the trajectory of homeownership rates—where they have been, where they are going, who has been able to benefit from homeownership, who has not, and who might be able to in the future—the Urban Institute looked at US household formation and homeownership rates by race and ethnicity over time and projected them over the next 20 years.

We found that a combination of economic cycles and public policies have widened racial gaps in homeownership and wealth equity. Our projections reveal significant implications for racial homeownership gaps, seniors’ housing needs, and future housing supply. These national and state-level trends and projections will be key to informing policymakers, thought leaders, and changemakers working to create a more equitable and sustainable housing landscape.

Join us for a summary of our findings and recommendations and a panel discussion of their implications for housing and wealth equity.

Homeownership is a critical wealth-building tool, but not everyone has the same opportunities to become a homeowner. To better understand the trajectory of homeownership rates—where they have been, where they are going, who has been able to benefit from homeownership, who has not, and who might be able to in the future—the Urban Institute looked at US household formation and homeownership rates by race and ethnicity over time and projected them over the next 20 years.

We found that a combination of economic cycles and public policies have widened racial gaps in homeownership and wealth equity. Our projections reveal significant implications for racial homeownership gaps, seniors’ housing needs, and future housing supply. These national and state-level trends and projections will be key to informing policymakers, thought leaders, and changemakers working to create a more equitable and sustainable housing landscape.

Join us for a summary of our findings and recommendations and a panel discussion of their implications for housing and wealth equity.

SPEAKERS

• Lee Anne Adams, Senior Vice President, National Initiatives, NeighborWorks America

• Debby Goldberg, Vice President of Housing Policy & Special Projects, National Fair Housing Alliance

• Laurie Goodman, Vice President for Housing Finance Policy, Urban Institute

• Noerena Limon, Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Industry Relations, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals

• Kim Smith-Moore, Senior Vice President, Social Impact Homeownership Lead, Housing Affordability Philanthropy Team, Wells Fargo Foundation

• Stockton Williams, Executive Director, National Council of State Housing Agencies

• Jun Zhu, Nonresident Fellow, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute

• Monique King-Viehland, Director, State and Local Housing Policy, Urban Institute (moderator)

The federal ban on evictions has been extended yet again, bringing relief to tens of millions of renters struggling to catch up. Still, demand is growing for more strategies to stabilize communities and put power in the hands of existing residents.

People who have suffered through the worst of the housing crisis want new ways to achieve long-term housing stability, build wealth, and control their future. They are exploring alternative forms of ownership, like community land trusts and housing cooperatives, which often serve those that have been traditionally shut out.

Join us for a webinar on new models that unlock opportunities for creating permanent affordable homes.

We will address a wide range of issues in the discussion, including:
- How community land trusts (CLTs) and other forms of shared equity in housing can effectively expand and preserve affordable housing stock, and advance racial equity

- Pathways to create long-term affordability in housing that extend beyond homeownership, including protections against real estate speculation

- Challenges and opportunities for community ownership models, and the roles of nonprofits and local governments in creating and implementing these models.

How can community development agencies and land banks generate unrestricted funding and reduce operating costs to increase impact and outcomes?

This interactive discussion will illustrate how a non-profit social enterprise real estate agency, a thriving CDC, and progressive land bank have created a collaborative model to generate revenue and reduce operating expenses.

This model covered in this presentation especially allows CDCs to focus on the specific issues relevant to their neighborhoods, including increasing first-time homeownership; helping older adults navigate the many housing options for aging in community; attracting new businesses; neighborhood revitalization; and/or controlling gentrification.

Presenters:
Sonya Edwards, Executive Director | Broker, ESOP Realty, Inc. DBA BRANCHES Real Estate
Dennis L. Roberts, Director of Programs and Property Management, Cuyahoga Land Bank
William A. Willis – Economic Development Manager, Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc.

Join us for a wrap-around course and receive from these passionate industry pros who want to see you become a successful home owner.

About this Event

We not only want to help you attain a home, we want you to sustain and remain in your home until you are ready to sale or transition to another. We are here every step of the way, educating and celebrating your journey with you!

Housing is a basic – and increasingly unattainable – human need. What are the issues underlying the nation’s housing crisis and how do we address them? The Regional Housing Strategy Speaker Series will bring together thought leaders from across the country to shine a light on the challenges facing our communities, with a focus on innovative solutions. Session I. There’s Nothing Cookie-Cutter About These Homes (Innovative Development) With the nation experiencing a housing shortage, the market is responding with unique ideas designed to scale quickly. Despite their assembly line-like efficiency, there’s nothing cookie-cutter about these homes! These innovative models challenge the status quo of housing design, even as they expand options for supply and affordability.

Consider the conventional portfolio of the American Dream: owning a home, buying a car, perhaps starting a small business—each typically requires a substantial amount of credit to turn the dream into a reality. For many Americans who lack access to traditional credit, these quintessential markers of stability and success may remain out of reach.
 
Data released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in 2015 revealed about 45 million people in the U.S. lacked credit records or had records considered “unscorable.” The FDIC's biennial 2019 survey of U.S. households showed more than 7 million homes were reportedly “unbanked,” meaning no one in the home had a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union.

Economists and some members of Congress have suggested incorporating alternative data like cell phone, utility and rent payments in credit scores. These data lines, currently excluded from traditional credit scores, could provide information on financial responsibility that would expand credit access.

· What guardrails can policymakers implement to ensure responsible use and adherence to applicable consumer protection laws? 

· Can alternative data be used to increase access to credit for underserved families?

· What needs to be done for lenders to become comfortable using alternative data in credit underwriting?

Recently the MBA announced our participation with a broad coalition of stakeholders – across all lines of mortgage services, including trade associations, housing counselors, and government agencies – in an important consumer awareness campaign.

The goal is simple: give servicers another tool to reach more borrowers in need, specifically those who have not been in communication with their servicer. The new campaign, “Not OK? That’s OK,” is targeted to those borrowers have missed one or more payments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those who are in a forbearance plan that is expiring.

Please join MBA and industry experts to learn more information about the joint industry borrower outreach campaign and how you can participate.

Time

3:00-4:00 PM ET

Objectives

• Campaign foundations and development of materials

• Provide steps to access the toolkit on the website

• Discuss different approaches to using the material

Who Should Attend?

• Servicing policy makers

• Servicing marketing teams

Speaker(s)

• Faith Schwartz, President, Housing Finance Strategies, LLC

Providing one-on-one foreclosure prevention and mortgage delinquency counseling is new territory for many new and seasoned counselors. The priority of services within agencies have shifted without much notice and counselors are expected to respond by providing intensive counseling sessions with confidence. Do you have the skills and knowledge required to conduct a foreclosure prevention counseling session? 

You Will Learn:

• Foreclosure defined

• Understanding the foreclosure process

• Basic elements all housing counselors need to know

If you have any questions feel free to contact training@ncrc.org

​

Event Type:Webinar

Early registration ends on Nov 16, 2020.
Regular registration starts on Nov 17, 2020 and ends on Dec 08, 2020.
Late registration starts on Dec 09, 2020.
(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Acquiring and rehabbing or building single-family homes can often cost more than the property's updated market value. Closing this appraisal gap to develop single-family homes could help change the landscape of historically disinvested neighborhoods and provide opportunities for affordable homeownership and wealth-building. But how would that work?

Join members of the Neighborhood Homes Coalition in a discussion with community developers about this innovative legislation introduced by Senator Rob Portman and co-sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown. These practitioners will share the challenges they face overcoming the appraisal gap in their markets and how they hope to leverage this federal legislative proposal and proposed targeted tax credit to scale up and broaden the reach of their equitable community development work.

Featured presenters:
Matt Josephs, Senior Vice President, LISC
Kate Monter Durban, Assistant Director, CHN Housing Partners
Kim Cutcher, Executive Director, LISC Toledo

The Ohio Healthy Homes Network is pleased to present Healthy Homes Interventions in the Age of COVID, one of six free webinars in the Fall Healthy Homes Webinar Series held October 19-22.  COVID 19 has forced many agencies to make major adjustments in their approach to serving the needs of clients for home repair, lead hazard control and weatherization. In this webinar, agencies in southeast, southwest and northeast Ohio will share their approaches to keeping both clients and employees safe while delivering quality services.  

The 2020 Ohio Housing Conference is going VIRTUAL and will be held December 1-2, 2020.

The conference will look different, but we’re excited to bring you the quality content and unmatched networking opportunities you expect, while keeping you safe!

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing are hosting the 22nd annual Ohio Housing Conference, "emPowered. People. Partnerships. Possibilities."

We’re still planning with you in mind. Virtual features will include: networking made easier, special 2020-only CEU credit offerings, and awesome engaging speakers and interactive sessions.

Early registration opens in October at $99 per attendee with the conference running virtually from December 1-2. Registration will increase to $150 per attendee after November 1.

The financial services industry has never seen a year like 2020.

The impact of COVID-19 has created new challenges, and the national spotlight on racial inequalities has heightened expectations for lenders and loan servicers. In the midst of it all, consumer groups and government agencies have been monitoring lenders closely for fair lending and fair servicing compliance outside the sphere of the pandemic and civil rights. 

Join us as expert panelists in compliance, fair lending and fair servicing provide perspectives on the latest developments in lending to diverse markets, supervision and enforcement trends and consumer advocacy priorities and initiatives. Panelists will share what’s around the corner by giving updates on regulatory expectations with respect to mortgage forbearances and modifications and administering PPP loans. 

Join us for what we expect to be a thought-provoking and highly relevant presentation.

Date & Time: September 22nd, 1 pm CT
Session 1: 1 pm CT – The State of Fair Lending
Session 2: 1:45 pm CT – The State of Fair Servicing
Company: Asurity

As consumers continue to face challenges that threaten the stability of homeownership, housing counselors continue to provide services to help them navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic.  While there are many mortgage providers working with consumers to avoid delinquency, there are specific tools that counselors will need to utilize to provide the best options to their clients.  This training will focus on protections covered under the CARES Act and best practices to help your clients avoid the pitfalls of a forbearance plan. 

 You will learn:

• Protections available to Homeowners under the CARES Act

• How to review a foreclosure prevention file and make an informed assessment to works towards resolution

• The tools made available to housing counselors working with clients during an economic crisis

• Best practices in the delivery foreclosure prevention counseling and how you can best help your client

·   

  If you have any questions feel free to contact training@ncrc.org

Tax policy can shape communities, but detecting the specific impact requires analyzing public records data on real estate transactions. In this data talk, two researchers will use public records data to examine two questions.

Lei Ding will analyze the effects of gentrification, as well as several gentrification relief programs, on homeowners’ tax delinquencies, residential mobility, and displacement in Philadelphia.

Sarah Strochak will assess the likely impact of split roll legislation in California, which proposes to tax commercial and industrial properties based on their fair market value, resulting in a different tax rate for residential properties remaining under the jurisdiction of Proposition 13.

Mark Fleming will discuss both papers, highlighting the role of property records in the analyses.

Market crises—such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, or the Great Recession—can impact minority borrowers disproportionately. AMDC’s Chair of the Education & Community Outreach Subcommittee, Joe Velazquez, SVP Neighborhood Lending at Bank of America, will lead a panel of experts who will delve into the ways minority households are stressed during times of crisis. This webinar will also outline the steps mortgage professionals can take to build a more sustainable, equitable, and diverse housing ecosystem. Meet the Panel: Joe Velazquez, SVP, Neighborhood Lending, Bank of America (Moderator) Dionne Cuello, VP, Diverse Market Segments, Citi Suzy Lindblom, COO, Planet Home Lending, LLC Alanna McCargo, VP, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute Lenny McNeill, EVP, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage