The National Association of Real Estate Brokers President Donnell Williams released a statement Wednesday in response to the national civil unrest America is currently facing.
NAREB chose to take an economic perspective in regard to black Americans battling COVID-19, racial injustice, discrimination, prejudice and inequality. To aid in the ongoing fight, Williams encouraged voting, completing the census and a proposed amendment of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 184, which provides low-interest mortgage loans to other minority groups but currently does not include black Americans.
“It’s a new day. If nothing else, the year 2020 has shown us that business as usual is over and some rules were made to be broken,” Williams said. “The National Association of Real Estate Brokers pivots to embrace these changes as we continue to work to have a positive impact upon black lives across the country.”
NAREB called for the elimination of obstructive systemic barriers that hinder or preclude the increase of black homeownership, including “lending discrimination and the despair fueled by racial discrimination that obstructs black homeownership.”
NAREB’s issued a call to action, which included:
- Call for passage of the Heroes Act
- Call for all 50 states to pass and update fair housing laws
- Call for cities to reform foreclosure prevention laws
- Call to eliminate zip code-based insurance rates
- Call for Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to eliminate Loan Level Price Adjustments (LLPA)
- Call for more investment in black-owned banks, CDFIs, and credit unions
- Call for more technical assistance to increase commercial real estate, property management and real estate investment.
- Call to increase funding to create more career and business opportunities for black Americans in commercial, etc.
“This is a historic time,” Williams said. “A new birth is taking place. In the future, you will be asked ‘What’d you do?'”
