The Hill, May 25, 2018: The Dodd-Frank vote stands in the way of helping working class and low-income families
For decades, owning a home has been the number one way for low-income Americans to rise out of poverty, yet Congress has passed a bill to rollback strict financial rules for banks under Dodd-Frank that have protected consumers since the Great Recession in 2008.
This vote has changed the rules, resulting in working class whites and people of color being blocked from generating their wealth through homeownership.
Today a plethora of things help blue-collar, average American families obtain responsible mortgage loans. The Community Reinvestment Act and various fair lending laws protect us from having the banks lend only to the rich or discriminate on the basis of gender, race or disability. The VA helps those who have served this country access reasonably priced mortgage loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have done more to expand access to homeownership than any institution in the country. FHA, in particular, helps working-class Americans get homes by lessening the insurmountable down payment needed for a home loan. (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA are agencies backed by the federal government to guarantee and ensure the availability of mortgages to low-to-moderate-income families.)
