American Indian housing assistance is perennially underfunded, a trend continued in the Administration's fiscal 2013 budget request. $1 billion would be a good starting point, instead of the current $650 million.
In addition, the government's successful HUD section 184 guaranteed Indian housing mortgage should be backed up by at an authorization of at least $9 million, which would leverage many times that amount in mortgages. HUD 184s, like FHA/VA/RHS mortgages, are packaged into Ginnie Mae securitizations.
Cheryl Causley, executive director of the Bay Mills Housing Authority in Michigan and chairwoman of the National American Indian Housing Council, will be talking about the budget and other Indian housing issues at the Native American Finance Officers Association's conference in New Orleans March 20-21.
She plans to bring up Native American government housing assistance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's ongoing Indian housing needs study, and the reauthorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA).
She pointed out that the Administration's proposed 2013 budget flatlines housing assistance under NAHASDA at $650 million. “It is too low,” she said, with NAIHC advocating instead for $875 million.
However, it could be worse. “They (the federal Office of Management and Budget) did a wonderful job to keep that amount. We fared better than a lot of organizations.”
The $875 million amount “would make a tremendous difference,” she said. Housing need is growing with Native population growth, she said. HUD is currently doing a study on native housing needs. Causley's advice for the agency is terse: “get more tribal input.”
NAIHC is currently holding meetings with members in each of its nine districts to brief them on the reauthorization of NAHASDA, which is coming up next year. NAHASDA has been an important tool in Native housing since, as the words “Self Determination” in the title indicate, NAHASDA acknowledges tribes' sovereign authority over federal housing assistance.
Other panelists at the conference include Juel Burnette, sales manager, Native American finance for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. He is a member of the Rosebud tribe and Wells' point man on the HUD 184 loan, an Indian-oriented mortgage that guarantees 100% of a lender's outlay. Rodger Boyd, Navajo, HUD's deputy assistant secretary for Native American programs, is also set to speak. HUD supervises NAHASDA assistance to tribes.
