HUD Secretary: Fair Lending Enforcement a Must

Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan said he is working with the Justice Department to step up enforcement of fair housing and lending laws. "I have already met with attorney general Eric Holder to discuss work we can do - not just at HUD - but also the partnership we can have with the FBI and the civil rights division," he told a Washington meeting of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. "You will see across this administration a rejuvenated commitment" to fair housing and lending enforcement and to a "regulatory system that ensures equal, safe access to financial products and credit for low-income and minority borrowers," the HUD secretary said. Mr. Donovan also noted that the president's fiscal year 2010 budget that will be released in a few weeks provides more funds for fair housing enforcement and $1 billion for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The NLIHC pushed Congress to create the trust fund last year. He also noted that the budget will provide full funding for Section 8 rental vouchers as well as project-based rental subsidies to preserve affordable housing.