Governor Moore Announces Program to Increase Homeownership Opportunities in Redlined Communities

 

Governor Moore Announces Program to Increase Homeownership Opportunities in Historically Redlined Communities ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 4, 2023) — Governor Wes Moore today announced the UPLIFT (Utilizing Progressive Lending Investments to Finance Transformation) program to increase homeownership opportunities, one of the most powerful drivers of the racial wealth gap, in chronically underinvested communities with a history of redlining. Administered through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the program will address homes impacted by appraisal gaps by accelerating the pace of new construction and rehabilitation of quality affordable housing in strategically identified communities across Maryland. "Tackling the racial wealth gap is a core priority of the Moore-Miller Administration. We must actively work to reverse decades of disinvestment through good policy decisions and innovative programs like this one," said Gov. Moore. "Maryland will be a leader in these efforts, and we will continue to expand work, wages, and wealth for all Maryland families." UPLIFT builds on the department's past initiatives to create a public-private partnership to invest in disinvested communities. Through the program, selected developers will build, sell, and rehabilitate quality affordable housing in targeted neighborhoods in accordance with design and construction standards that ensure quality, timely production, and accountability. Homes in these communities appraise for less than the cost to build due to patterns of historic disinvestment depressing the home values. UPLIFT funds the difference between the appraised value and the sales price, and over time the new homes will elevate home values and reduce the gap in UPLIFT neighborhoods. Additionally, 25% of the homes in the program will be reserved for households with incomes below the area median income to become homeowners. Funded for $10 million through the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, UPLIFT builds on the department's Homeownership Works (HOW) pilot program, created in 2021. The first phase of the program is investing $10 million into new construction and rehabilitation projects in two Maryland neighborhoods, Johnston Square in Baltimore and Pine Street in Cambridge. On November 15, the first four homes in Johnston Square rehabilitated through the pilot program were celebrated in a ribbon cutting ceremony. The four homes, valued at approximately $24,000 pre-rehabilitation, are now entering the market priced in the low $300,000 range. "We have an opportunity to counteract historic disinvestment in our communities by building vibrant neighborhoods, improving home energy efficiency and quality of life, and building social connections between residents," said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. "This is just the beginning of those efforts, and we will continue to create new opportunities for Maryland homeowners to thrive." UPLIFT projects are required to be located in both a Low-Income Census Tract and in an area designated as a Maryland Sustainable Community. To identify qualifying areas, visit https://maryland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=dff652a3d61a4d79abfc64f37be38689&locale=en&findSource=2&find=12455%252C%2520Margaretville%252C%2520New%2520York. To review the UPLIFT draft program guide, visit https://dhcd.maryland.gov/HousingDevelopment/Pages/UPLIFT.aspx. Comments will be accepted through December 29 and can be sent to UPLIFT.DHCD@Maryland.gov. The UPLIFT program application will open in early 2024. # # #

CONTACT: Allison Foster, Director of Communications - allison.foster@maryland.gov Brandi Bottalico, Director, Office of Public Information - brandi.bottalico@maryland.gov

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On October 26th, Maryland Begins Property Appraisal & Evaluation Equity Investigation

 

PUBLIC NOTICE: Task Force On Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity to Hold Public Meeting NEW CARROLLTON, MD (October 24, 2023) – As mandated by the passage of HB1097 in 2022, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development is establishing the Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity. The Task Force will: Beginning October 26, 2023, meet monthly through June of 2024 Address the persistent misvaluation and undervaluation of property owned by minorities by: studying strategies and actions that will:  help ensure that governmental oversight and industry standards and practices further valuation equity;  increase training of appraisers to combat valuation bias;  remove barriers to entry into the appraisal profession by minorities;  assist in the development of a model for a meaningful reconsideration of value process; and  reduce or eliminate bias related to automated valuation models and alternative property valuation methods; and  identifying legislative or other policy recommendations that will provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach for reducing bias in valuations, through enforcement, compliance, or other methods Report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly. DHCD will hold the first Task Force meeting on October 26, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.  This meeting is virtual, and the public can watch live at the link or join through the phone number listed below.  Video call link: https://meet.google.com/cpo-afwn-unr Or dial: ‪(US) +1 352-453-0792‬ PIN: ‪243 551 371‬#

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MCCR Forum: Employment: Disability, Reasonable Accommodations and the Law

Maryland Commission on Civil Rights sent this bulletin at 10/17/2023 09:10 AM EDT

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Maryland Virtual Disaster Center for Insurance Assistance Opened

 

Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 12 pm - 2 pm or 5 pm - 7 pm Attendee Zoom Link: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1603802898 Dial-in: (646) 828-7666 Webinar ID: 160 380 2898  The Maryland Insurance Administration is opening our Virtual Disaster Center to help anyone with insurance related issues or questions about damage from recent weather events. Registration is not required. All are welcome to attend. To view the flyer, please click here.

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Maryland Needs Its Own CRA Law

 A Maryland CRA Law Would Help Underserved Communities and Support Economic Development

Economic Action Maryland and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition — released reports this month advocating for a statewide community reinvestment act in Maryland, that they say would help increase homeownership and other financial lending opportunities for residents and business owners, especially people of color. Both groups and other housing advocates plan to push for the legislature to pass a bill next year. Del. Melissa Wells (D-Baltimore City) introduced legislation this year to propose a state-level community reinvestment act, but withdrew it.

The proposed act would apply to roughly two dozen state-charted banks and seven credit unions that include Cecil Bank, EagleBank, Sandy Spring Bank, HAR-CO Credit Union, and Post Office Credit Union of Maryland Inc.

If enacted, a Maryland Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) law would apply to banks and credit unions with about $46 billion in assets. It would cover mortgage companies that made over 68,000 loans in 2018-2020. These assets and lending activity are considerable resources that should have a CRA obligation for reinvesting in underserved neighborhoods. 

Unfortunately, the Federal CRA law has not significantly reduced inequalities and discrimination in Maryland. Between 2018-2020 in Maryland, some statistics from Economic Action’s policy brief and a 20-page paper found that Black applicants were denied at all financial institutions at a rate 1.6 times higher than white applicants; credit unions denied Black and Native American applicants slightly more than two times more frequently than white applicants; although Black residents account for 29% of the state’s population, about 20% received single-family loans; in Baltimore City, where the Black population was 62%, about 33% of those residents received those same loans; and in Montgomery County, where the Latino population was 18%, about 10% of those residents received single-family loans.

According to a June 20, 2023 whitepaper by Josh Silver of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), a Maryland CRA law would:

(1) Help narrow racial and equity gaps in lending. In Baltimore City, 33% of the loans went to African Americans whereas they constituted 62% of the population.

(2) Plug gaps in the federal law. While Federal CRA law applies to banks, other state laws in Massachusetts and Illinois also apply to mortgage companies and credit unions. A state law would address needs and neighborhoods not explicitly addressed by the federal CRA. Maryland’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation could conduct separate exams for counties, assessing performance more rigorously in Baltimore City and underserved rural counties. Federal CRA exams usually rate performance on a metropolitan level that hides poor performance most often occurring in the underserved counties.

(3) Increase loans, investments, and services in communities of color and modest-income neighborhoods across the state in both urban and rural areas. While some gaps have narrowed modestly, underserved communities continue to be overlooked. For the state as whole, lending institutions made 32% of their loans to low- and moderate-income (LMI) borrowers during 2018-2020 while 31.6% of the population was LMI. A significant disparity, however, emerges in the City of Baltimore where LMI borrowers received 58% of the loans but were 73% of the residents.

(4) Would apply CRA to institutions with tens of billions of dollars which offer tens of thousands of loans. State-chartered banks have about $38 billion in assets and state-chartered credit unions have almost $8 billion in assets. The top ten independent mortgage companies issued almost 68,000 home purchase loans in Maryland in 2018-2020.

(5) Would channel significant increases in loans and investments to Maryland’s neglected communities. Moreover, a state CRA law is needed to address sizable racial and income disparities in access to loans. In the state as a whole, lenders made 20% of their single-family loans to African Americans from 2018 through 2020 while 29% of the population was African American. The gap is even wider in Baltimore, a city that is 62% Black but where just 33% of loans went to African American borrowers.

(6) Could have the examiners consider the sustainability of lending by considering default and delinquency rates. This is particularly important for vulnerable and underserved communities and is often overlooked by federal CRA exams.

(7) Could contain provisions that counter CRA ratings inflation and that would motivate improvements in performance to communities of color. On a federal level, banks pass their CRA exams about 98% of the time. Banks that fail their exams cannot receive deposits from a state agency. The Commissioner could also adjust fees based on ratings received.

Finally, a state CRA is one of the most effective economic development strategies a state can undertake. Studies have shown that the federal CRA has increased lending and banking services in modest income communities. A state CRA law could build on this success. A rigorous Maryland CRA would homeownership and small business ownership, and benefit the state many times over in terms of higher gross domestic output, higher tax revenues, and reduced dependence on the state safety net.

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Read the June 20, 2023 Maryland Matters article.