VP Harris announces efforts to make homeownership more affordable
By Angela Jones
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md-05), and Bowie State University President Aminta Hawkins Breaux took the stage at Bowie State University’s Fine & Performing Arts Center in Bowie, Maryland. The occasion for the reunion of the esteemed group was the announcement of the Biden-Harris administration’s plans to make homeownership more attainable by lowering costs for homebuyers.
Governor Moore, Maryland’s first African American governor, spoke about how his grandparents mortgaged their home to pay for him to attend a military academy.
“…and they bought a small home in the Bronx after they immigrated to this country with the idea of saying it’s not just about owning something over their head, but they wanted to own a piece of this country,” Moore said. “And they ended up mortgaging their home and taking money out so my mother could have what she needed in order to send me to school the first year. They sacrificed a piece of their American dream, so I might have a chance to build my home. And had it not been for the prospect of homeownership that would not have been. Work, wages, and wealth. This is our opportunity in this moment to be able to create pathways for new dreams, for new hopes, and knowing that the success for each and every Marylander is not success because of kindness and benevolence, not because of a social experiment. It’s because it’s a promise that this state will be good.”
Later, Vice President Harris told the audience about a time when she was in high school and her mother told her that she was ready to purchase a house. The Vice President stated that her family had been renters until that point.
The announcement made by the Vice President touted the administration’s efforts to make homeownership more affordable for homebuyers with new FHA-insured mortgages. On average a homeowner is expected to save $800 per year, which would equate to lower housing costs for approximately 850,000 homeowners this year, according to Harris.
“So it has been a very helpful program, the FHA loan process. But we also realized, after talking to folks, it’s time for an upgrade. Because we have been traveling around the country, and we’ve been talking with folks. And for too many, what we realize is the monthly cost of an FHA loan is still too high,” Vice President Harris stated.
“That is why today I am proud to announce that starting on March 20th, we are reducing mortgage insurance payments for all new FHA homeowners by nearly 40 percent.” According to Statista, the homeownership rate in the United States, the proportion of homes occupied by owners, rose slightly to 65.9 percent in 2022, the highest figure since 2011.
Unfortunately, homeowners who have done everything right are still at risk of losing their homes because property management companies in North Carolina and the attorneys they hire can hide behind the shield that states like North Carolina provide for nonprofit homeowners associations. Neither the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office nor the North Carolina Attorney General’s office will intervene when “homeowners associations,” their management company, or the attorneys they hire violate fair debt collection laws against homeowners. Their excuse for allowing this to occur is that nonprofits in NC are not regulated. A management company can operate an HOA for years without a board of directors being elected and why would a management company take steps to support the election of a board? Without a board, they can literally write their own checks and checks to the attorneys they hire with impunity.
One would think that Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing complaint process would be an avenue that minority homeowners can use against these management companies and the attorneys they hire, who operate more like racketeers. HUD will pass the complaint to the locality’s housing agency. These agencies may be biased because many condominium HOAs pay the water bill for each unit directly to the city.
Homeowners in NC work hard to obtain a home, pay off the mortgage, and still can have their homeownership rights threatened by anyone who chooses to claim to represent a homeowners association. According to HOA-USA.com, “There is no government agency in NC that has oversight over HOAs or their management companies. There is no licensing requirement for managers.”
A year ago, the Vice President announced the administration’s plans to stamp out racial bias in appraisals through the release of the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) Taskforce Action Plan. Homeowners in NC want relief from rogue property management companies.