HUD USER

On October 24, 2011 PD&R Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic hosted the Australian Minister of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Honorable Jenny Macklin, and her delegation. Bostic was joined by Carol Galante, Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing/FHA Commissioner; Mark Johnston, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs; Erika Poethig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development; Valerie Piper, Deputy Assistant for Economic Development; Luke Tate, Senior Policy Advisor; Pamela Lawrence, Public Housing Revitalization Specialist; Marianna Leavy-Sperounis, Special Assistant; and numerous IPI staff including Deputy Assistant Ana Marie Argilagos. The exchange led to a rich discussion about collaborating with the non-profit/social sector to scale up opportunities for public and affordable housing; evaluating mechanisms that provide low-income or workforce families with housing support; developing policies and programs that support affordable rental housing opportunities; and examining housing initiatives that reduce chronic homelessness and provide a platform of social services to highly vulnerable populations. Read more...

On July 25 HUD representatives from PIH, PDR, and Intergovernmental Affairs hosted eight visitors from Bangladesh. The discussion centered on HUD’s goals and strategic plan, as well as US housing policy in general. Both HUD and Ministry representatives left the conversation with a greater understanding of the housing concerns in each others’ countries. Read more...

September, 2012
IPI hosted a learning exchange with a Brazilian real estate delegation hosted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Representatives from PD&R and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) attended. The Brazilian Federal Board of Realtors (COFECI) is a quasi-government organization with the power to issue realtor licenses in Brazil and it is currently working with NAR to develop a set of indicators that can be used to gauge the real estate marketplace in Brazil. The delegation intended to exchange information to develop their system of indicators on real estate practices, and to ask HUD about practices of analysis, planning and forecasting. IPI and the Brazilian delegation agreed to continued engagement with possible collaboration between COFECI in support of HUD’s MOU with the Brazilian Ministry of Cities. Read more...

Stemming from the World Urban Forum, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Brazilian counterparts are collaborating on housing and urban development issues. The first step in this process was an international learning exchange in Washington, DC on July 29–30 on affordable rental housing policy and multi-sector partnerships. This exchange sought to promote best practices and encourage dialogue about the development of sustainable, inclusive, and affordable housing. The exchange included presentations, roundtable discussions, and site visits in and around the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas. Read more...

December 7, 2010
On December 7, IPI and the Office for Native American programs (ONAP), hosted a presentation by officials from the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) as part of IPI/PD&R’s Brown bag Lunch Series. The goal of the meeting was to bring together key stakeholders in an effort to begin a dialogue on best practices in native affairs. Attendees at the meeting included representatives from HUD, U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Executive Directors from several Indian Centers in cities across the U.S. also participated. The meeting was facilitated by the United Indians for All Tribes Foundation.

Assistant Secretary Bostic welcomed the visitors to HUD and talked about the need for sound research to improve housing and urban development initiatives for Native Americas. He spoke about the comprehensive Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian housing needs assessments which PD&R is currently undertaking with FY2010 funds from Congress.

DAS for Native American Programs, Rodger Boyd, gave a briefing on his office’s work. He spoke about a series of meetings which ONAP has begun to host across Indian Country. The meetings scheduled from December 2010-march 2011 will involve tribal leaders, federal agencies, private sector, non-profit and state entities.

Elizabeth Tromp, Assistant Deputy Minister for the Office of the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, INAC, and John Gordon, National Director for the Urban Aboriginal Strategy, INAC, presented on the work of INAC’s Office of the Federal Interlocutor and on Canada’s Urban Aboriginal Strategy. Their presentation highlighted on some of the similarities between the demographics and challenges that face U.S. and Canadian natives in urban areas.. Read more...

September, 2012
IPI also co-chaired a Roundtable in Macau, China with Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Director General Sheng Jianzhong on Housing Policy in the Transitioning Economy. Panelists included Professor Tim Riddiough or AREUEA President, Ginnie Mae Ted Tozer, Honk Kong Housing Society CEO Wong, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Director of Urban Development Professor Dai, and IFE CEO Yang. From the discussion, panelists agreed that housing and finance policies need transparency and risk sharing mechanisms; housing and urban regeneration programs can be integrated; property taxation would be important to a strong housing market; and policy should address affordable as well as investments. Read more...

On October 27, 2011 PD&R Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic hosted the Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and his 21 member delegation. Bostic was joined by IPI’s Deputy Assistant Secretary Argilagos, representatives across HUD, and representatives from the American Planning Association. The Chinese group was in the United States as part of Georgetown University’s Global Education Institute Program on Low Carbon Economy and Sustainable Urban Development. HUD Senior Advisor Luke Tate followed up the exchange with a visit to Beijing focusing on urban planning and housing policy. In addition, IPI’s Dr. Alven Lam met with other Chinese delegations from the Yunnan and Jilin Provinces to discuss urban planning.

On December 5, 2011, Shanghai Municipal Audit Bureau from China visited HUD Real Estate Assessment Center, Office of Public and Indian Housing. The 20-member delegation discussed advanced technology, methods, and evaluation index system in public financial and performance audit, and particularly the auditing in public housing and construction. REAC staff Judy Wojciechowski, Kim Scoles, Jamie Arcara, Qing Yan and James Wen attended the meeting. Read more...

July 25, 2011
Alven Lam, Acting Director of IPI, welcomed Twenty-five officials from Wuxi City government to HUD on July 25 as part of a program in public management. Dr. Lam briefed the delegation on U.S. government institutions, and on the current climate in the U.S. housing market.

A 19 member delegation from the Beijing Municipality met with Alven Lam and officials from GNMA on March 1. The group was part of the University of Maryland’s China Initiative and were in the US for two weeks as part of a program on regional economic development.

November 17, 2010
On November 17, IPI hosted a visit from six Chinese officials who were participants in the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor's Leadership "NGO Management" program. HUD staff met with the delegation to share information on HUD's work with NGOs and public-private partnerships. The delegation also learned about HUD's involvement in tenants' rights, including laws, regulations, and protection.

July 25, 2011
On Wednesday, April 6, a five member delegation from Denmark met with Ted Tozer, Andrew Jakabovics, Alven Lam, and Ed Szymanoski to discuss how the housing market can be regulated and how the housing finance market is likely to evolve in the future.

On November 4, 2011 IPI held a policy exchange with Mr. Cyril Cosme, Counselor for Labor and Social Welfare and the Embassy of France, to discuss his comparative research report ‘Urban Policy—the American Experience’. Participants heard about France’s ‘Programme de Renovation Urbain 1&2’, French programs similar to Hope VI and Choice Neighborhoods, which seek to phase out older public housing stock in favor of mixed income housing development. Cosme praised the US emphasis on market assessments and ‘bottom up’ implementation through community groups, noting that French programs have suffered from a lack of measurable preconditions, and that the U.S. administration’s ideas of ‘empowerment’ and viewing ‘residents as assets’ are increasingly popular in France.

Following this, IPI and HUD’s Office for Sustainable Housing and Communities hosted a French-American Foundation delegation to foster dialogue between American and French professionals on the subject of "Sustainable Cities," with focus topics including rehabilitation of disadvantaged inner city neighborhoods and the adaptation of cities in transition. Discussion centered on the Strong Cities, Strong Communities programs, with Mariia outlining the projects purpose and goals, such as the need to mutually address housing, transport and environmental investments and eliminate separate but duplicate programs within the federal agencies. Members of the French delegation addressed the French government’s emphasis on rigid planning standards to address energy issues. Read more...

In August 2009 German State Secretary Daldrup met with Secretary Donovan to discuss urban development and sustainable communities. Then in May 2010 State Secretary Rainer Bomba from the Ministry and his delegation visited HUD to continue the cooperative discussion, furthering the urban learning exchanges between the nations. Assistant Secretary Bostic represented HUD and Secretary Donovan along with a variety of HUD officials from the Office of Sustainable Homes and Communities (OSHC), the Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI) and Policy Development and Research (PD&R). The successful meeting led to further plans for engagement and partnering.

Meetings by PD&R/IPI staff in Germany in December 2010 with Ministry official Oliver Weigel were supported by a German Marshall Fund “Cities in Transition” study tour, which solidified the interest for the nations to work closely together to investigate urgent themes in urban development such as cities in economic transition. In May 2011, State Secretary Bomba returned to the United States where he and Deputy Secretary Sims at HUD signed a Joint Declaration of Intent for this purpose. Also participating was HUD Regional Administrator Carrion PD&R Deputy Assistant Secretary Erika Poethig, IPI Director Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy, Laura Trudeau from the Kresge Foundation, and Tamar Shapiro from the German Marshall Fund.

Under the Joint Declaration between HUD and the German Ministry, with its broad revitalization and sustainability parameters, framed by the Livability Principles for Sustainable Communities and the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities, HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, Dr. Raphael Bostic and Director for IPI’s Philanthropic Research and Initiatives, Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy traveled to Kassel, Germany to attend the 5th Urban Congress on Urban Development Policy in October 2011. Bostic delivered a keynote addressing cities and climate change. Read more...

IPI hosted a delegation of German city government officials through the State Department’s International Visitors Leadership Program. The Chairman of Munich’s City Council and the Senior Executive Officer for the State of Hamburg’s Ministry for Urban Development and Environment visited HUD on a tour of the U.S. to exchange ideas about brownfields and economic development. HUD and the German Ministry have a joint Memorandum of Understanding to exchange knowledge about sustainable communities, energy efficiency, affordable housing, and public-private partnerships. Read more...

June, 2012
Various HUD officials met with with Nisha Singh, Joint Secretary of India’s Ministry of Urban Development. Joint Secretary Singh described the challenges India faced with the implementation of their national urban renewal program. Joint Secretary Singh explained how India’s provincial and local governments have not been able to manage India’s massive urbanization, and as a result in 2005 the federal government stepped in to help with slum and infrastructure assistance through a $22 billion renewal program. Now, the federal government has identified that local governments lack staff and capacity to properly utilize public funds, finance projects, and identify streams of revenue, thus hampering development. India is working with groups like the World Bank to identify ways to build capacity at the local level. HUD shared experiences about U.S. local governance capacity in planning and implementing sustainable community projects, and outlined efforts that have been made to develop private public partnerships. Read more...

June 21, 2011
On June 21, Kenneth Leventhal, Director of Program Budget Development, briefed an 11 person delegation on Performance Based Budgeting and Performance Management. The delegation was made up of officials from the Indonesian National Development Planning Agency and the Ministry of Finance. The meeting was requested by Rapid Access International on behalf of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The officials were part of a capacity building project run by JICA and the Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd. (MURC). The purpose of the project is to build the capacity of Indonesian Government organizations and to help them create systems for performance-based budgeting. This briefing was facilitated by IPI.

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June 20, 2011
On June 20 Kirk Freeman, Vice President of the Office of Capital Markets at Ginnie Mae (GNMA), welcomed a six person delegation from the Republic of Indonesia to HUD. The delegation was made up of officials from the Ministry of Housing, the National Housing Savings Agency for Civil Servants, and PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (a Security Ratings Company). The delegation visited HUD to learn more about mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and the role of the U.S. Government in the program. Michael Nardacci and Shalei Choi, also with the Office of Capital Markets at GNMA, also joined the briefing, which was facilitated by IPI.

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On November 9, 2011 IPI facilitated the visit of two officials from the Japanese Housing Finance Agency. They met with Ed Szymanoski, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs, to discuss HUD’s risk management for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.

Two officials from Japan met with Allison Hopkins and Wilda Brundidge of the Office of Human Capital Services to conduct research on practices of personnel management in the US federal civil service. The delegates were interested in the selection standards and procedures used when officials are promoted to the GS13, 14 or 15 levels.

May 5, 2011
On May 5, Jean Lin Pao, General Deputy Assistant Secretary of PD&R welcomed a visit from a Japanese delegation of academics, public officials, and researchers who were interested in learning about the history and rationale of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program. They were curious about how developers use the LIHTC to produce affordable manufactured housing. The delegation submitted a questionnaire, which PD&R staff responded to in writing before the meeting. After opening remarks from Jean Lin, Carol Galante, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing, gave an overview of the LIHTC program. Following Carol’s briefing, Kurt Usowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs (PD&R), and Mike Hollar an Economist in PD&R, fielded questions from the delegation. Read more...

July 26, 2011
On July 26 Judson James of PD&R briefed a 5 person delegation from Macedonia as part of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The delegates were five local officials from the municipality of Cair in Macedonia. The participants of this project were interested in good governance, municipality and city administration, local economic development, public services for citizens, and bilingual education. The municipality of Cair is located in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and is the most densely populated municipality in the country. Mr. James briefed the delegation on local economic development and urban planning. Alven Lam, Acting Director of IPI, facilitated this visit. Read more...

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Mexican Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) are exploring collaboration on common housing and urban development issues. The first step in formalizing a working HUD-SEDESOL relationship is a co-hosted bilateral learning exchange to identify common challenges and opportunities related to livable and sustainable communities, land use, foreclosures and energy efficient mortgages. The format of the exchange will allow for an interactive dialogue on these topics through presentations, discussions and site visits.

Objectives:

  - To share knowledge and best practices on sustainable development and urban revitalization to better inform HUD's domestic work.

  - To identify common challenges and opportunities for future collaboration.

  - To enhance US diplomatic relations with Mexico. Read more...

July 26, 2011
Michael Blanford of PD&R met with an international visitor from Mongolia, as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program on July 26. The visitor, Ms. Bolormaa Tumurbaatar of the Mongolian Builders Association, had a range of contacts with Mongolian public and private entities involved in every phase of construction. Her work has allowed her to become a nexus point/clearing house for information about product sourcing, inspection techniques, financing methods, etc., as they apply to construction and building maintenance. Mr. Blanford provided her with an overview of the building industry in the U.S. Alven Lam, Acting Director of IPI, facilitated this visit. Read more...

December 15, 2010
On December 15th, IPI facilitated a visit by a Nigerian delegation to HUD’s Wilmington, DE office to meet with representatives from the field office for a briefing on HUD and some of its programs.

June 2012
In June, 2012 Secretary Donovan and Jose Domingo Arias, Panama’s Minister of Housing and Urban Planning discussed housing policies to reduce poverty, public-private partnerships to develop affordable housing, and sustainable development. Minster Arias spoke of the challenges Panama faces in creating affordable housing options for lower-middle and lower income households. Panama has created a national zoning plan, launched a 15 territory plan, and enacted a slum redevelopment initiative with housing subsidies, placing a strong emphasis on maintaining the existing social networks in the community. The Secretary described HUD’s rental voucher system, low-income housing tax credits to incentivize private companies to build affordable housing, and inclusionary zoning. Read more...

August 2, 2011
In February 2011, Vice President Binay of the Philippines visited HUD to meet with officials from the Department, the White House, the DC housing authority and the DC Finance Agency. They also toured various HOPE VI sites in SW DC. VP Binay and his delegation were extremely pleased with the visit and very grateful to HUD for organizing it.

As a follow-up to the VP’s visit, the Executive Assistant General Manager of the Filipino National Housing Authority - Mr. Froi Kampitan- visited Washington on Tuesday, August 2. IPI organized a briefing here at HUD and a site visit for him. Mr. Kampitan was interested in learning about HUD’s major initiatives and more about HOPE VI. He was welcomed to HUD by Francey Youngberg, DAS for Intergovernmental Affairs. Patrick Costigan, Housing Policy Advisor to the Secretary, provided a briefing on HUD Policy Goals. Following Patrick’s talk, Ben Metcalf, Senior Advisor in the Office of Multifamily Housing and Donna Poggi Keck, HOPE VI Team Leader, Urban Revitalization Division, PIH provided a briefing on HUD’s HOPE VI and Choice Neighborhoods initiatives. Alven Lam, Acting Director of IPI also attended the briefing.

Following this meeting, Mr. Kampitan and Victor Vergara from the World Bank, took a tour of HOPE VI Sites. Russell Conlan facilitated visits of the Arthur Capper Site, Capitol Quarter, Town Homes on Capitol Hill, and the Yards. On the site visits, Mr. Kampitan and Mr. Vergara also met with David Cortiella, Project Director, DC Housing Authority, Deana Michaelson, DC Housing Authority, and an EYA representative involved with the development. Read more...

February 2, 2011
The Vice President of the Philippines, Jejomar Binay, visited Washington, DC on February 2. The Secretary and Deputy Secretary hosted Vice President Binay and his delegation, which comprised of numerous Filipino cabinet ministers. IPI designed a one-day learning exchange in collaboration with the World Bank, and the delegation met with various HUD staff, officials from the White House, the DC Housing Authority, and DC Housing Finance Agency. They also toured HOPE VI sites in SE Washington. Vice President Binay and his delegation are interested in the approach HUD is taking to revitalizing public housing and learning more about private sector engagement in HOPE VI. Read more...

June, 2012
Dr. Felixberto Bustos, President of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation in the Philippines, visited HUD/Ginnie Mae for a policy exchange that focused on risk management after the financial crisis. Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer along with Ginne Mae and FHA staff participated as well. Dr. Bustos shared the progress of early stages of the Philippines emerging mortgage market and expressed the interest in Ginnie Mae’s risk management and insurance strategies. This visit follows the 2010 exchange with Vice President Binay of the Philippines. Read more...

May 19, 2011
On May 19, Dr. Alven Lam gave a briefing for a 6-person delegation from a variety of countries, as part of U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The delegation learned about HUD’s approach to green development.

March 4, 2011
A 14 member delegation of Polish officials visited HUD on March 4 and met with DAS Kevin Neary. The delegation was interested in learning about the contracting of the research agenda process from solicitation to bidding to monitoring and evaluation of contractors. They were interested in the issues that arise in contracting research to outside partners. They also were interested in HUD’s role in the financial crisis. The delegation is part of a study tour to the US to examine the relationship between government agencies and research institutions and think tanks. Read more...

This meeting with FHA Commissioner David Stevens, and PD&R, GNMA, and FHA staff, was requested by Andrey Yazykov, CEO of the Russian State Agency “The Agency for Restructuring Home Mortgage Loans (AHRML).” A representative of the Russian Association of Regional Banks also attended. RARB is one of the leading Russian institutions on adopting international best practices in mortgage lending, including World Bank standards. During their trip to the US they will also visit Bank of America in New York. The purpose of the meeting was to study possible measures to support pensioners through the mechanisms of reverse mortgage. The Russian participants wanted to understand US expertise in this subject, and explore future cooperation in this field. Read more...

January 19, 2011
On January 19, IPI was joined by Mark Shroder to meet with Aleksey Shishayev, Head of Economic Office, Russian Embassy and representatives from the State Department to discuss potential ways to work together on activities related to the President’s U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission. Russia’s Ministry of Regional Development is interested in partnering with HUD to exchange ideas on building technologies, home and construction financing, and other priorities. Read more...

Secretary Donovan and Alexander Semenyaka, General Director of Russia’s Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML) met in June, 2012 to discuss policy tools to support mortgages for low income and aging populations, how to share credit risks, and rental housing polices. Russia’s current mortgage system is modeled after Fannie Mae and they are interested in other programs such as Ginnie Mae. After the fall of the Soviet Union, housing was privatized and people were given homes for free, and currently Russia has decaying and obsolete requiring renovation or replacement. Russia hopes to spur development of new housing and help citizens buy and rent homes. The Secretary described the need to create lending systems that call for the sharing of risk with the private sector, while ensuring liquidity in the market. Read more...

A delegation from South Africa visited HUD for four days, from October 4-7. Part of PD&R's Learning Exchange Program, the delegation's visit was coordinated by the Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation. The delegation included Mr. Samson Moraba, CEO of the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), and Mr. Sydney Mutepe, Executive Credit Manager of the NHFC. The two were primarily interested in learning how to stimulate private investment in the low-income housing market through the use of mortgage insurance and guarantees. During their visit, they met with senior staff from FHA, Ginnie Mae, CPD, FHEO, PIH, OSHC, and Fannie Mae, USAID, and OPIC. Their trip also included a Hope VI site visit with the DC field office and lunch with the Secretary, who had previously met with Mr. Moraba during the Secretary's summer 2010 visit to South Africa.

Visit these links for more information on South Africa's National Housing Finance Corporation and Department of Human Settlements:
National Housing Finance Corporation
NHFC Annual Report
Department of Human Settlement Read more...

May 25-26, 2011
Korean Government officials from the Ministry of Land and Transport, the Ministry of Planning and Strategy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Bureau of Audit and Inspection visited the HUD NY and HUD headquarters offices to receive briefings from U.S. officials on May 25-26. IPI facilitated their visit, in which they learned about housing policy issues such as the role of FHA in providing affordable mortgage loans, and how HUD provides rental assistance for low income households. At head quarters, Alven Lam and Sunho Park (PD&R), Stephanie Schader (FHA), and Diane Yentel (PIH), met with the delegation to answer their questions. The Korean officials will use the information they learned to inform a short-term policy research project entitled “A more efficient and equitable housing welfare system for the low-income and socially deprived households.” Read more...

May 5, 2011
Jean Lin Pao, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for PD&R, welcomed a delegation of 21 officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government to HUD to learn about urban housing policy in the U.S. The delegation was especially interested in discussing what issues have emerged in housing policy following the financial crisis. Other topics which were of interest include urban redevelopment projects and urban transportation issues. The delegation’s visit was sponsored by the University of Georgia’s International Center. Read the full summary of the delegation’s visit. (The uploaded images on the CD should be included with this section)

Meeting Participants:

HUD:

  - Jean Lin Pao, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy Development and Research
  - Caroline Clayton, PIH Urban Revitalization Division
  - Alven Lam, Acting Director, Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (PD&R)

Facilitated By:

  - Rusty Brooks, Director, International Center, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia
  - Caroline Clayton, PIH Urban Revitalization Division
  - Alven Lam, Acting Director, Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (PD&R) Read more...

April 13, 2011
On April 13, 2011 a seven member Korean delegation led by the Assistant Secretary to the President for Social Equality and Safety Net met with a group of HUD and IPI representatives led by General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research Jean Lin Pao in HUD headquarters. The group discussed issues related to the unpaid labor wage in Korea, and HUD representatives shared information on project labor agreements, Section 3 requirements, the Davis Bacon Act, and the prevailing wage. The delegation asked discussion provoking questions throughout. HUD and IPI continue to cultivate an effective working relationship with South Korea. Read more...

December 13, 2010
On December 13th, IPI facilitated a visit from six representatives from the Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF). The delegation was led by the Director of HF, Sang-Mo Ahn. HF is a government agency which has been engaged in the housing finance business including mortgage securitization, housing finance credit guarantees, and reverse mortgage guarantees in the Republic of Korea. The delegation met with Karin Hill, Colin Cushman, Erica Jessup, and Michael Reyes of FHA, Ted Tozer, Kirk Freeman and Shalei Choi of GNMA and Ed Szymanoski of PD&R. They heard briefings on FHA's insurance program, the Reverse Mortgage Program, Foreclosures and Claims Procedures, and the GNMA MBS program. Read more...

Assistant Secretary Sandra B. Henriquez was a keynote speaker at the 2011 International Conference for Social Housing in Taipei, Taiwan from October 2-5, 2011. This international comparative study on social housing was to provide a platform to facilitate progress in Taiwan’s housing policy via exposure to different innovative programs and management models from around the world. Assistant Secretary Henriquez’s presentation highlighted the lessons from the US experience with rental housing and its development over time. She detailed HUD’s rental-based projects, including the Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Section 8 Rental Assistance programs. She addressed long term and recent challenges facing the creation of new affordable rental homes, including a US policy favoring home ownership and the increase in need stemming from the recent economic downturn. The conference highlighted a number of challenges that Taiwan faces in terms of public housing and policy. Taiwan does not have an administrative authority that deals exclusively with housing. Additionally, the country’s low tax rates inhibit the ability of the government to entice developers and investors to construct affordable housing with tax credit incentives similar to those used in other countries. Existing social housing is plagued with space constraints, poor management, design flaws and high vacancy rates. The Assistant Secretary noted that the U.S. and Taiwan share the interest of providing affordable and decent housing and being resilient in environmentally vulnerable communities. Read more...