Secretary Marcia L. Fudge of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently addressed the issue of systemic racism in affordable housing through a social media post. She emphasized that changing the perception of homeowners' rental history is a key aspect of providing affordable housing.
In her statement, Secretary Fudge said, "We know debt disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people in this country. That is why we introduced changes to how potential homebuyers' rental history is considered, and how their student loan debt is calculated so more people can qualify for affordable housing financing."
In an interview with Affordable Housing Finance, Fudge discussed racial disparities in homeownership. She underscored the significant role that housing dynamics such as property valuation play in generational wealth.
Fudge stated, "It’s unconscionable in many ways that the gap between Black and white ownership is as big or bigger than it was in 1968 when we passed the Fair Housing law. I think it’s a black mark on our nation that we would allow the same kind of discrimination that we were fighting in 1968 to continue today." She added, "My concern is that we need to address it in a way that says to people not only will we not tolerate it, but that we’re going to make significant change by doing things like working on property valuation."
She further explained her department's approach towards tackling these issues: "We’re saying that you’re no longer going to communities of color and devalue their properties. You’re not only devaluing their properties, but you’re taking away generational wealth. We’ve penalized people who have student loan debt, primarily that’s people of color and poor communities... We have decided that we are going to make it a level playing level... We’re working on ways to encourage the minority community... Fair Housing is the law of the land, and we intend to enforce it."
A recent HUD news release recapping the year 2023 revealed that a record-breaking 120,000 new incremental vouchers were provided to people over the past three years. This achievement is part of HUD's ongoing mission to eradicate systematic discrimination and assist more individuals in finding homes.
