Affordable Housing News: 

Mortgage Assistance Program Expansion Estimated to Help More Than 1,000 Additional Marylanders Stay in Their Homes. 

Since the Homeowner Assistance Fund Program Began in 2021, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (MDHCD) has assisted over 11,000 Marylanders residents behind on payments and housing costs, including 6,000 who were facing foreclosure. The Department has expanded the program to add an additional option for mortgage servicers to provide eligible homeowners with relief as interest rates have risen and affected the affordability of some loan modifications. The program now is able to fund up to six months of forward payments for eligible applicants, and is estimated to help more than 1,000 additional Marylanders. 

The Homeowner Assistance Fund offers legal assistance, loan modifications with payment of delinquent mortgages, grants to avoid displacement due to property taxes, association and water and sewer fees, and other housing related costs. So far, the program has provided more than $125 million to eligible homeowners, with an average of $17,100 of assistance for each household. No additional application is required to be considered for the new forward payment option, and the Department is also reviewing past applications to determine if those homeowners would be eligible for the forward payment option and reaching out to them to offer assistance. 

For detailed information on eligibility and to apply for assistance: homeownerassistance.maryland.gov. The HAF program was established by the American Rescue Plan Act enacted in 2021 to help homeowners experiencing financial hardship after January 21, 2020. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Developm​ent was awarded a total of $248 million to administer through the program. 

Contact Brandi Bottalico, Office of Public Information - brandi.bottalico@maryland.gov.

 Mortgage Lending Discrimination

 KeyBank & Capital One Lose Their Access To New York City’s Business

The NYC Banking Commission has voted to freeze deposits at the two megabanks over their refusal to tackle racial discrimination. KeyBank and Capital One will not receive further deposits from the City of New York after the unprecedented public vote by the Commission, which took the punitive action because the banks have refused to share information on their internal efforts to combat discrimination by failing to submit anti-discrimination plans. The New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, one of three members of the commission, also voted against allowing Wells Fargo, PNC, and International Finance Bank to hold public funds after they also failed to submit anti-discrimination plans.

In a public hearing, the Commission designated 26 banks to receive deposits from city agencies for the next two years. Despite the suspensions of Capital One and KeyBank, the two banks can service existing contracts for one year.

These actions come after the Commission in February strengthened its rules to make designated banks more accountable to the public by asking banks to provide detailed plans and specific steps to combat lending and employment discrimination. Banks are expected to provide approved banking products and services for city entities and must provide total collateralization for any money held.

“Good cities shouldn’t do business with bad banks, so it’s great to see the New York commissioners take action here,” the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) commented. “KeyBank and Capital One have atrocious track records of not just under-serving but actively harming the interests of low-wealth communities and people of color. New York City moves a lot of money around in the course of everyday business, so some bank is going to make money by providing that service. But that profit opportunity shouldn’t go to banks like these that abuse the privileges of a federal bank charter while flouting the responsibilities that come with it.”

KeyBank’s refusal to provide the required documents to the Commission comes months after an NCRC report exposed the Cleveland-based lender’s worst-in-class performance on lending to non-White, non-wealthy borrowers. The bank in May agreed to a third-party racial equity audit after fair-lending groups and 80 community organizations asked federal regulators for an investigation into alleged redlining in the its mortgage lending practices. It claims that the current problem is a misunderstanding.

NCRC said that "Capital One, meanwhile, has repeatedly harmed the public, violated consumers’ rights, and rejected legal obligations not to discriminate." A Capital One spokesperson told Ameican Banker it does not encourage discrimination against employees and clients, and that what it submitted to city officials was “consistent” with past materials.

In April 2022, after City officials agreed to not to open any new depository accounts with Wells Fargo Bank after a Bloomberg report found the bank approved less than 50% of refinance applications from Black homeowners in 2020 but 72% from white borrowers. A Wells Fargo spokesperson told American Banker in an email at the time that “We are ready to continue serving [the city’s] needs today and well into the future.” 

*****

Sources: 

"NYC Regulator Halts City Deposits at Key Bank, Capital One," Banking Dive, May 26, 2023.

NCRC  Just News/ May 25, 2023 Press Release.

 Native American Heritage Month

National Expert Available to Discuss How Mortgage Lending Limits Housing in Native American Communities

November is Native American Heritage Month. NeighborWorks America’s expert is available to comment on issues locking Native American people out of homeownership, such as mortgage lending, credit issues and the short supply of housing industry professionals. With more than 25 years of history in mortgage lending on Tribal Trust and Restricted Lands, NeighborWorks America (NWA) offers a unique perspective and lessons learned that can be applied now to help this population own homes and build wealth.

The available expert is Mel Willie, director of Native Partnerships and Strategy for NWA. He leads NWA's programming to expand its investment in Native communities. Willie is a national leader in Indian Country with more than 23 years of experience in nonprofit management, government, political, public and intergovernmental affairs and has represented tribal interests at the local, tribal, state and national level. He is a member of the Navajo Nation, born and raised on the reservation in northeast Arizona. Having served as past executive director of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) and as special advisor to one of the nation’s largest public housing authorities, Willie is intimately familiar with providing affordable housing through highly regulated federal programs.

He can discuss how mortgage lending in Indian Country can be complicated given the various land types; programs and practices that can help create more Native homeowners; and how NeighborWorks helps Native American people get into and keep homes.

If interested or for more information, contact NeighborWorks America Media at 202-760-4097 / media@nw.org. 

About NeighborWorks America  

For over 40 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a national, nonpartisan nonprofit known as NeighborWorks America, has strived to make every community a place of opportunity. Our network of excellence includes nearly 250 members in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. NeighborWorks America offers grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools, and access to training as the nation's leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations provide residents in their communities with affordable homes, owned and rented; financial counseling and coaching; community building through resident engagement; and collaboration in the areas of health, employment and education. 

Source: https://www.neighborworks.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2022-Archive/Expert-available-to-discuss-how-mortgage-lending-hinders-housing-in-Native-communities.