HUD Secretary Julian Castro will address his agency's housing initiatives and answer consumers' questions submitted from a live audience and via social media on Jan. 21.
Castro and the Department of Housing and Urban Development took to Twitter this week to solicit questions using the
How has owning a home been a part of your "American Dream?" Post your story using #HousinginAmerica . I'll answer questions live on 1/21.
— Julián Castro (@SecretaryCastro) January 15, 2015
Zillow is sponsoring the event, which will be moderated by Stan Humphries, chief economist for the Seattle-based real estate and mortgage advertising technology platform. Other scheduled participants in the discussion include: Mark Calabria, the director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute; former FHA commissioner Carol Galante; Edward Glaeser, an economics professor at Harvard; and Barry Zigas, director of housing policy for the Consumer Federation of America.
The event is the first in a series of planed "Housing Roadmap to 2016" events that Zillow is presenting.
Although no other events have been planned at this time, the company is looking to have its first regional event in its home city of Seattle and it will have a strong focus on rental housing issues, said Camille Salama, a spokeswoman for Zillow in an emailed message.
HUD did not respond to a request for comment, but confirmed the event in a press release detailing Castro's public schedule, adding the Obama administration's recently announced
Among the questions and comments already been posed to Castro on Twitter include:
@SecretaryCastro will @HUDgov implement REO to Rent programs in the distressed housing market in Puerto Rico? #HousinginAmerica
— porti (@APORTILLA787) January 16, 2015
@SecretaryCastro #HousinginAmerica My question is What can you do to see that the federal $ allocated for Sandy families gets to them ASAP
— Beth Henry (@StopFemaNowLI) January 16, 2015
@SecretaryCastro #HousinginAmerica My American Dream was shattered by the NYRISING program and SBA loan. We need help! #goingbroke
— psha (@sandyscooter1) January 16, 2015
@HUDgov @SecretaryCastro How about no doc loans for self employed scam out of their homes by #Hamp #housinginamerica
— Jeffrey L. Shurtliff (@shurtcircuit) January 16, 2015
Following Castro's Q&A, a panel will discuss housing trends "to identify the housing issues that will have the greatest impact over the next two years," according to a website for the event. This will be followed by an open discussion between the panelists and the audience to wrap up the meeting.
