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HUD at 50: Keeping Housing Affordable and Accessible

All Americans should have the opportunity to purchase a home or affordably rent one.

But in the last several years, many have struggled to achieve that milestone. Millions continue to suffer from the incalculable, widespread devastation inflicted during the financial crisis, when foreclosures displaced more than 11 million Americans, contributing to a decline in home values of more than 30 percent. All told, the crisis cost our nation more than $13 trillion in economic growth and $16 trillion in household wealth.

Committee Democrats are working every single day to ensure we remain on the road to recovery by fighting to preserve time-tested, proven approaches that provide certainty to American homebuyers and homeowners, ensuring access to affordable rental housing targeted to low-income families, and advocating for the preservation of programs to help our most vulnerable find housing that is safe, decent and affordable.

The stakes are high. Republicans continue to undermine and cut funding for programs that ensure our nation’s most vulnerable residents have access to quality housing they can afford.

As the Department of Housing and Urban Development marks its 50th anniversary this year, more work remains to ensure that our housing market grows stronger and that all individuals have the ability to obtain their piece of the American Dream.

Information about this critical work is outlined below: 

  


Legislation to Overhaul Public Housing Spending

  • Ranking Member Waters has released  the "Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act," legislation to comprehensively address chronic underfunding of the public housing program in the United States to ensure access to housing that is safe, decent and affordable for the 1.2 million vulnerable families who rely on it.



Panel/Hearing Videos

  

Press Releases

  

Hearings 



In Case You Missed It: Articles

  • Will Handing Public Housing Projects to Private Developers Hurt the Poor?, by Rachel Cohen -… The government has called the new Rental Assistance Demonstration program the "answer" to housing woes, but there's very little evidence to support that case.. … Read full story at PSMag.com

  • All Americans Deserve Access to Fair Housing, by Rep. Cleaver -… There are many ways King’s legacy lives on. In particular, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 remains one of the most important pieces of legislation attributed to King’s legacy. … Read full story at RollCall.com

  • Supreme Court rules for homeowners over mortgage dispute, by Lawrence Hurley - …The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of homeowners seeking to back out of mortgages when lenders are accused of failing to follow a federal “truth in lending” law. .… Read full story at Reuters.com 

  • Everything you need to know about President Obama lowering FHA premiums, by Trey Garrison - …Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, however praised the action as critical for the nation’s homebuyers. .… Read full story at HousingWire.com

  • Congresswoman Maxine Waters condemns RAD public housing privatization scheme, by Lynda Carson … Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), In an effort to save public housing in Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco and nationwide, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services in the House of Representatives, wrote a letter to President Obama on Dec. 10 condemning the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, or RAD. .… Read full story at SFBayView.com

  • House Dem questions WH public housing relief program, by Peter Schroeder … Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, argued Monday that the administration’s “rental assistance demonstration” program could put public housing at risk. .… Read full story at TheHill.com
      


Additional Resources

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