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 »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, made the following floor statement on H.R. 3354: As Prepared for Delivery Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose H.R. 3354, a bill that not only fails to make critical investments in our nation’s future, but also eliminates important protections for everyday Americans. As Ranking Member of the… Read more »

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, requested for the second time that Chairman Jeb Hensarling convene a field hearing in Los Angeles on homelessness. As the letter notes, the Committee has already begun to hold field hearings on housing issues in other parts of the country. “The 2017 Point in Time Count in Los Angeles County showed… Read more »

Last week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, delivered remarks in Washington, DC at the Save HUD 202 Rally. At the rally, which was attended by residents of HUD Section 202 Housing for the Elderly, affordable housing advocates, and Members of Congress, Ranking Member Waters warned of the catastrophic harm that would result from the… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Al Green (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, calling on him to use the Committee’s full range of its investigative powers to examine the high potential for conflicts of interest with… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, along with seven other Democratic Committee Members, reintroduced comprehensive legislation to preserve and revitalize the nation’s public housing stock. The measure, entitled the Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act Of 2017, ensures safe, decent, and affordable housing… Read more »

Today, led by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), all 26 Democratic Members of the Committee on Financial Services sent a letter to Chairman Jeb Hensarling requesting hearings with Ben Carson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Sonny Perdue, Secretary of the U.S.… Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Al Green (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), expressing concerns about President Trump’s conflicts of interest with regard to… Read more »

Following the announcement that President Trump will nominate Joseph Otting, former OneWest Bank chief executive, to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, released the following statement: “The mission of the OCC is to ensure that financial institutions operate in a safe and… Read more »

Last week, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), Vice Ranking Member Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), hosted a roundtable discussion on how the Trump Administration’s full budget request would create suffering for whole communities; increase poverty, hunger and homelessness; and reduce… Read more »