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Women in Housing & Finance of PA Annual Luncheon
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Please join the members of Women in Housing and Finance of Pennsylvania
for the 4th Annual Meeting and Lunch.
When: Wed., Nov. 16
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
immediately following the Homes Within Reach Conference
Where: Hilton Harrisburg, 1 North Second Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101
Click here to register by Wed, Nov. 9
WHFPA Members $0
Non-Members $20
Join WHFPA for a 2016 review and learn more about the activities planned for 2017. The luncheon specifically designed to help you meet and socialize with old and new colleagues within housing and finance! FHLBank Pittsburgh is glad to sponsor this event. |
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6th Annual Taste of Delaware
Hosted by Senator Chris Coons and Delaware Chamber of Commerce
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The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce is partnering with
U.S. Senator Chris Coons
as we travel down to Washington D.C. for the Annual Taste of Delaware. Held on Capitol Hill in the Russell Senate Office Building, Taste of Delaware showcases some of the First State's best culinary traditions to more than 600 attendees and our D.C. neighbors.
Date: Wed., Dec. 7
Time: 4 to 7 p.m.
Location: Kennedy Caucus Room, Russell Senate Office Bldg., Rm 325
Constitution Avenue & 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Click here to register for this free event.
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HUD Releases Three-Year Study of Strategies to End Family Homelessness
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When a family with children seeks emergency shelter, there are a number of interventions to address their homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released the results of an exhaustive study to identify the most efficient and cost-effective ways to house and serve these families. After tracking more than 2,200 families over a three-year period, HUD found that a long-term subsidy, typically a Housing Choice Voucher, led to far better outcomes for reducing family homelessness and improving family well-being.
Click here to learn more.
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Voting Is Important, but It Doesn't Elect the President
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October 2016
Allison Beresnyak
You've heard over and over how important it is to vote in this presidential election, but don't forget you aren't voting directly for the presidential candidates.
The founding fathers had concerns about a direct election of the president for numerous reasons, such as a concern that special interest groups might sway an election or an unqualified candidate might win. Because of this, they developed a second layer to the process to help assure a sudden populous wave wouldn't derail the United States. The Electoral College was created, and votes on Election Day are cast for the presidential electors, not the candidates themselves, even though many ballots don't even list the electors. Electors are normally chosen by the political parties at their state conventions and include elected officials and party faithfuls. The Electoral College meets on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December in state capitals across the country to cast their votes. This year, that will fall on Dec. 19.
In all states except Maine and Nebraska, the Electoral College is winner takes all. This means that the person that wins the popular vote receives all of the electoral votes. This process helps assure that states with smaller populations are still relevant to the election. As a result, receiving the most citizen votes doesn't guarantee an election win, as occurred in 2000 when George W. Bush lost the popular vote by just over 500,000 votes, but still won the election. There are national campaigns to change to election by popular vote, but since that would require a constitutional amendment, three-fourths of all states would have to approve the proposed amendment and the large number of smaller states can easily continue to block such an effort.
There are 538 electors, and 270 are needed to win the presidential election. Over half of the states have laws that bind electors to vote for the candidate with the most popular votes from their state, but these laws haven't been challenged before and no federal law binds electors. The Electoral College has never changed the outcome of an election, but with the unexpected twists of this election, will the ultimate result differ from Election Day? Experts agree that is unlikely, but the unexpected has proven to be the norm in this election cycle, so stay tuned!
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October 2016
Peter E. Knight
As millions of Americans exercise their solemn responsibility to vote in the coming weeks, many no doubt will be contemplating the wisdom once expressed by American actor and filmmaker Woody Allen: "One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness ... the other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly." While most voters have told pollsters they are not excited about their choices, the elected government, both in the executive and legislative branches, will be the government everyone has, not necessarily the government everyone wants.
After the elections, Congress will have to fund the entire range of government programs or face a government shutdown on Dec. 9. The really significant negotiations will likely continue beyond Dec. 9, and another short-term funding extender will be necessary. 36 tax provisions will also expire at the end of the year, and Congress will be under intense pressure to address matters that include the deductibility of mortgage insurance premiums, the taxation of mortgage debt forgiveness, energy tax breaks and numerous other issues.
In addition to completing the work of this current 114th Congress, the congressional Republicans and Democrats will have to elect their leaders for the 115th Congress that begins in January. It seems that the bitter intra-party Republican squabbles of the past few years may take a more intense and personal tone as past party infighting plays out in a new manner.
Treasury Department Lays Out GSE Reform Principles in Final Months of the Obama Administration
On Oct. 26, senior Treasury Department officials Counselor Antonio Weiss and Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Karen Dynan released a paper entitled "Housing Finance Reform: Access and Affordability in Focus." The paper is the first official Treasury pronouncement on its wishes for government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) reform in several years and focuses squarely on affordability, the need for expanding the credit box and increasing homeownership rates. Earlier Treasury pronouncements had focused more on addressing taxpayer risk and bringing more private capital into mortgage markets.
The paper is "the first in a series of issue briefs that will focus largely on the GSEs." While too late in the second term of this president, these papers will lay down an important marker for the GSE-reform debate that starts anew in 2017. The report makes the following points:
Housing Affordability
- The most fundamental question any future system must answer is this: Are we providing more American households with greater and more sustainable access to affordable homes to rent or own? The impact of the financial crisis on current borrower access to mortgage credit is evident. Today, the credit score of the typical new mortgage borrower is nearly 40 points higher than the typical borrower in the early 2000s.
- It is clear that the GSEs and the secondary market can do more to reach a broader swathe of creditworthy households. Constraints on access to affordable credit have ripple effects across the owner-occupied housing market. When a large number of first-time homeowners cannot buy a home, established homeowners may face a harder time relocating or moving up in the market.
- While private capital can and should play an important role bearing the majority of mortgage credit risk, a clearly-defined role for government is critical in ensuring the survival of products like the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.
GSE Contributions to Affordable Housing - Duty to Serve
- A reformed housing system likely requires more than just a role for average-cost pricing in order to make affordable housing more broadly available. Currently, the GSEs remit an amount equal to 4.2 basis points of annual mortgage acquisitions to government-administered affordable housing funds. This model could be built upon and expanded in a reformed system to support affordability programs.
- Under conservatorship, FHFA has proposed, and is seeking to finalize, a duty-to-serve rule for three underserved markets: manufactured housing, rural housing and affordable housing preservation. The Treasury believes such duty-to-serve requirements should continue to be statutorily mandated and paired with appropriate incentives and enforcement measures to encourage innovation and service to these, and potentially other, underserved markets.
- Additionally, Congress created the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) and the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) in 2008. With funds received following FHFA's decision to allow the GSEs to contribute to the CMF, Treasury's recent CMF awards are expected to fund the development of more than 15,000 affordable rental units and nearly 2,000 affordable homeownership units. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also recently announced NHTF allocations of $174 million that will further support affordable housing production.
FDIC Reports Fewer Unbanked U.S. Households
On Oct. 20, the FDIC released a survey that shows the number of U.S. households without a bank account fell significantly in 2015. Seven percent of U.S. households were unbanked in 2015, the lowest share in the survey's history. The survey found that "while improving economic conditions contributed to the decline, the rate fell further than expected based on economic factors alone." The drop was broad-based, showing declines among minority households, households with very low incomes and those headed by individuals without any college education.
The survey also found that 56.3 percent of households set aside savings, 63.8 percent held credit only from bank sources and 13.7 percent exhibited potential demand for consumer credit from banks.
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| Senator Carper Helps Celebrate $160,000 Grant for Walnut Ridge Project |
Senator Tom Carper put his homebuilding skills to work with Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County (HFHNCC) just before a ceremony on Oct. 25 to present a $160,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant for HFHNCC's Walnut Ridge Phase One project. The project which will consist of four new homes. Homeowners must complete the HFHNCC homeownership training program, including financial and construction classes enabling potential homebuyers to financially and physically take care of their homes.
The AHP funds were provided by Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank Pittsburgh) and its member financial institution, WSFS Bank.
"Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County, together with FHLBank Pittsburgh and WSFS Bank, is doing important work: helping people earn the security of homeownership here in Wilmington," said Senator Carper. "A home is the cornerstone of family life, and I am happy to work beside these fine people as we build hope for families in our community."
In addition to Senator Carper, other speakers at the event included Anas Ben Addi, Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority; Glenn Kocher, Senior Vice President, Small Business, WSFS Bank; Kevin Smith, CEO of HFHNCC; Jane C. W. Vincent, Regional Administrator, Region III, U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development; and John K. Darr, who serves as a Director of both Meals on Wheels in Lewes/Rehoboth and the West Rehoboth Land Trust in Rehoboth Beach, and as Vice Chairman of the Board of FHLBank Pittsburgh.
Kevin Smith, who received a ceremonial check from WSFS Bank and FHLBank Pittsburgh, said, "Here at Walnut Ridge, as with all of our projects, our goal is to bring people together to build homes, communities and hope. Our partner, WSFS Bank, was instrumental in helping us get this grant from FHLBank Pittsburgh. On behalf of our Board of Directors, and the families that we serve, thank you to WSFS and FHLBank Pittsburgh for their generous support."
WSFS Bank, a member of FHLBank Pittsburgh, applied for the AHP grant on behalf of HFHNCC in a competitive funding round.
Underscoring the value of partnerships, Glenn Kocher said, "This is a great day for Wilmington and the families that will live in these homes. We are delighted to partner with FHLBank Pittsburgh in providing this much-needed funding to help make this project a reality."
John Darr discussed FHLBank Pittsburgh's commitment to Delaware, noting that financial institutions throughout the state hold approximately $40 billion in FHLBank credit products, including advances and letters of credit, and have received approximately $17 million in AHP funds.
"Here in Delaware, AHP grants have totaled $17.2 million for 83 projects, creating more than 1,750 housing units. These are profoundly important results, and we achieved them together," said Darr. He also described how the Bank works with area lenders and community groups for job creation and community vitalization. "We are proud to partner with our member institutions and sponsoring organizations to fund these vital programs. It is rewarding to see that, together, we can make a difference in quality of life, jobs and a strong local economy."
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