NM Congressional Staff Meets with USBC on Housing Issues

USBC housing counselors and attorneys met March 23 with staff members of the New Mexico Congressional delegation to discuss housing issues up for review in the current Congressional session.

The meetings preceded the national Just Economy conference of USBC’s national partner, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).

High on the list was increasing appropriations for housing, community development, civil rights enforcement, and housing counseling in the federal budget.

USBC staff pointed out that auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs) could become affordable housing rental alternatives if low-interest financing or non-taxable grants are made available to homeowners for construction or rehabilitation of existing units. Such units can help multigenerational families add needed space, and could be income-generating lease opportunities for on-site homeowners.

USBC’s Housing and Fair Lending Center team also highlighted foreclosure prevention housing counseling as a key anti-poverty and anti-crime strategy, preventing erosion of New Mexico’s historically high homeownership among low-income residents, neighborhood disruption, educational disruption, poor health outcomes, and homelessness.

No other resources are available to homeowners who face the loss of their home, when they must either negotiate the pitfalls of the investor loss mitigation process on their own, or hire an expensive attorney who is unlikely to specialize in the lengthy and complex proceedings.

This is the opposite of the situation at mortgage origination, when homebuyers have access to a phalanx of expert resources, including realtors, mortgage brokers, and title companies that manage document collection and negotiation of terms, and their fees can be wrapped into the mortgage loan and amortized.

USBC’s staff met with staff members from the offices of Senator Martin Heinrich, Senator Ben Ray Lujan, and Representative Melanie Stansbury.

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United South Broadway Corporation USBC has been helping New Mexico communities prosper since 1986 by promoting fair housing, fair lending, crime prevention, financial literacy, locally-based commercial development, and opportunities for youth. We provide legal assistance and free housing counseling to homeowners facing foreclosure, and offer anti-racism workshops through our Anti-Racism Training Institute of the Southwest.