Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and 15 Committee Democrats sent a letter to Brian Montgomery, Assistant Secretary for Housing–Federal Housing Commissioner of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), expressing concerns about the lack of transparency at HUD regarding the reported denial of access to… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, Congressman Denny Heck and 21 Committee Democrats sent a letter to Kathy Kraninger, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Consumer Bureau), urging her to recommit the Consumer Bureau to fulfilling its supervisory role over consumer protection… Read more »

Today, at a House Financial Services Committee markup of seven bills, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Mr. Chairman, let me just say that I was encouraged by our bipartisan agreement on the JOBS Act 3.0 package, and the resulting House passage of the bill with… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced that they have reached an agreement on a package of strong, bipartisan capital-formation legislation to help America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs and to protect investors. The… Read more »

With the 2018 hurricane season underway and Puerto Rican families still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member on the House… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full committee hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.” This hearing follows Waters’ introduction of legislation to restore fair housing protections eliminated by Secretary Carson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman Mr.… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, introduced H.R. 6220, the Restoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018, a bill to restore several fair housing protections that Ben Carson, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has eliminated. “The Department of Housing and Urban… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s failure to issue a final U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulation implementing reforms to the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) policies regarding mortgage insurance for condominiums. “Condominiums… Read more »

Today, the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held a hearing entitled, “An Overview of Homelessness in America.” For years, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Committee Democrats, have called on the Committee to hold a hearing on homelessness. Today marks the first time Committee… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, introduced the Expanding Housing Opportunities for Foster Youth Act of 2018, a bill to provide a more sustainable solution for young people who are transitioning out of foster care and in need of a place to call home. This bill would permanently reauthorize $200 million annually towards… Read more »

Following U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson’s outrageous proposal to increase rent burdens on our nation’s most vulnerable populations, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, introduced H.Res.886, a resolution that affirms the Brooke Rule, which ensures that families receiving federal housing… Read more »

Today, in response to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson’s proposal to limit federal housing assistance and impose additional burdens on our nation’s most vulnerable populations, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: “Secretary Carson’s proposal to… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, introduced legislation that would help prevent foreclosures for the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) borrowers by strengthening requirements for and increasing oversight of FHA mortgage servicers so that every homebuyer with an FHA mortgage is given a fair chance at avoiding… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on the Financial Services, made the following statement on the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act: “Today, we mark the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, which is one of the most important pieces of legislation attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of fighting for equal… Read more »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, led four separate letters to Congressional appropriators highlighting the importance of federal housing programs that serve the country’s most vulnerable populations. In the letters, Ranking Member Waters urged her colleagues to increase funding for the following rental and homeless assistance… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, released a statement on a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report titled, “Rental Assistance Demonstration: HUD Needs to Take Action to Improve Metrics and Ongoing Oversight” (GAO-18-123). The GAO report was requested in 2015 by Ranking Member Waters to review the first component of… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee markup to consider the Majority's Views and Estimates on the Budget for FY 2019: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Committee Democrats are committed to advancing policies that create shared prosperity and… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, released a statement on a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report titled, “Rental Housing: Improvements Needed to Better Monitor the Moving to Work Demonstration, Including Effects on Tenants” (GAO-18-150). The GAO report was requested in 2015 by Ranking Member Waters, who has been… Read more »

Today, in response to the Trump Administration’s release of its full budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2019, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement: “Trump’s budget proposal would harm American consumers, hurt our nation’s communities and wipe out financial reforms that are in place to prevent… Read more »

Today, in response to the Trump Administration’s decision to delay the implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: “The Trump Administration’s move to delay the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule is a flagrant attack on efforts to… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following floor statement in opposition to H.R. 1699, a bill that would remove important protections for consumers of manufactured housing: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you Mr. Chairman. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1699, which would undermine the Dodd-Frank Wall… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, introduced the Preventing Foreclosures on Seniors Act, a bill to make reforms to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) reverse mortgage program to help prevent unfair foreclosures on seniors. HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) program allows seniors to take… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced the Making FHA More Affordable Act, a bill to repeal the requirement that Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers pay mortgage insurance premiums for the life of the loan, and reinstate the FHA’s previous policy of only requiring borrowers to pay premiums until the outstanding principal balance reaches 78 percent of the original… Read more »

Today, at the first full committee hearing of the 115th Congress to examine the future of housing in America under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, questioned Secretary Carson about the devastation in Puerto Rico and President Trump’s threatening and… Read more »

Today, at a full Committee hearing with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: Thank you Mr. Chairman. America is currently in the midst of the worst rental housing crisis that we’ve ever experienced, and it is hitting our lowest… Read more »