SitusAMC Releases "On the Hill" Podcast Episode Featuring David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference

New York, NY – SitusAMC is pleased to announce the release of its latest episode of "On The Hill," a podcast hosted by Tim Rood, SitusAMC's Head of Government and Industry Relations, exploring the hot topics of D.C. and the implications for real estate markets. In this episode, Rood speaks with David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference, the nation’s oldest bi-partisan housing coalition. In this wide-ranging conversation, Rood and Dworkin discuss policy solutions and regulatory reforms needed to address the affordable housing crisis, including: 

• simplifying incentive programs, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, to facilitate the creation of more units and maximize taxpayer dollars; 
   
• streamlining the mortgage financing system so it's realistic for lenders to make loans on less expensive homes; 
   
• addressing exclusionary zoning and high state and local fees that make it unfeasible to build; 
   
• making acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) lending count more significantly toward banks' Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance than other activities to encourage housing investment; 
   
• and rethinking well-intentioned policymaking in a broader context, for example, new regulations by the Energy Department for energy efficiency in manufactured homes. These rules “significantly increase the cost of one of the most affordable sources of housing," Dworkin said. "To make poor people who desperately need affordable housing pay for this priority that won't have a material impact on climate change just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. We have to start thinking holistically and sensibly." 

Rood and Dworkin also discuss how Texas, which places limits on cash-out refinancing, became a model for sustainable homeownership during the Great Financial Crisis. Those rules helped prevent the crooked brokerage schemes inflicted on their cross-border neighbors, according to a study by the Federal Reserve of Dallas. 

"We did a great job in the 1990s of expanding homeownership and helping people build wealth, but we never taught them wealth management," Dworkin said. "As a result, once they had a couple hundred thousand dollars in equity in their homes, they were ripe pickings for brokers to set them up in serial equity-stripping schemes on what looked like perfectly normal mortgages but weren't. So we have to be thoughtful about this and learn from our past mistakes." 

"On the Hill" is SitusAMC's bi-monthly podcast series featuring policymakers, economists and other experts discussing hot topics and agendas coming out of Washington, D.C., and their implications for housing and housing finance. Previous guests have included former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair; Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit; former FHFA Director Mark Calabria; Kristy Fercho, Head of Wells Fargo Home Lending and MBA Chair; former CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger; Craig Phillips, former Counselor to the U.S. Treasury Secretary; and Economist Mark Zandi, among others.  

Listen to the episode here.

The release of this podcast report underscores SitusAMC’s commitment to powering the lifecycle of real estate finance. The analysis and insights provided in this podcast are invaluable to those seeking to stay informed and competitive in today's fast-paced business environment.  

Listen to the podcast here. 

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About SitusAMC  

SitusAMC (www.situsamc.com) is a leading independent provider of technology, strategic outsourcing, talent and advisory solutions to the commercial and residential real estate finance industries. The company helps clients identify and capture opportunities in their real estate businesses through industry-leading services and innovative technologies that drive operational efficiency, increase business effectiveness, and improve market agility across the entire lifecycle of their global real estate activity.  

Press Contact:  

Andy Garrett  
Head of Marketing  
andygarrett@situsamc.com