Housing

Supporting Renters and Homeowners

I’ve heard from constituents about rising rental prices and incomes that aren’t keeping pace. Families in the Inland Empire are feeling the burden and forced to spend less on other necessities, including food, clothing, transportation, medical care, or saving for retirement.

There are several factors contributing to this rise, including a growing Inland Empire population, an overall shortage of housing stock, and a housing market driven by investors, not homeowners. These investors present additional challenges to the rental market, including a lack of competition for rental prices and lowered housing availability. Congress must restore funding to programs that provide housing assistance and housing counseling.

Homeownership is a powerful economic stimulus that benefits our neighborhoods and helps children excel. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures loans made by private lenders, making it easier for more borrowers to obtain a mortgage. Other tax incentives, like the home mortgage interest deduction, help defer the cost of owning a home. I support reforms that help homeowners refinance their mortgages and make the foreclosure process more consumer friendly. We must improve resources for homeowners that find themselves underwater in their loans.

Stop Wall Street Landlords Act

Since the 2008 housing crash and subsequent foreclosure crisis, increased investor activity in America's housing market has normalized price gouging, excessive fees, and abusive practices while artificially driving up housing prices. As a result, investors in 2022 bought nearly 25% of U.S. single family homes sold last year, driving up rent prices for American families.

The Stop Wall Street Landlords Act works to deter future institutional investments in these properties by imposing a tax on existing and future acquisitions of SFRs. It also prohibits Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Gennie Mae from purchasing and securitizing mortgages held by large institutional investors who use debt to buy single family homes and rent them out for optimal profit.

Click here to learn more about the Stop Wall Street Landlord Act.

Affordable Housing

It’s a challenge to find affordable housing, especially in California. More than eighteen million households across the nation are severely burdened by their housing costs and spend more than fifty percent of their income on housing costs. This is a particular concern in our region, where large investors purchased hundreds of homes after the housing market collapse and have begun renting them to local families.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) oversees several programs, including rental assistance vouchers, which help low-income families afford the cost of housing. These vouchers serve more than four million households, with more than half of them headed by single women with children. As a Member of Congress, it is my goal to strengthen and improve rental assistance programs at HUD, help families find safe and affordable housing, and put them on the path to self-sufficiency.

For local housing resources, please visit http://www.riversideca.gov/housing/

Preventing Homelessness

The United States is one of the world’s wealthiest nations, yet many of our citizens are unable to find safe, affordable housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development distributes grants to local communities to help provide permanent housing, transitional housing, emergency shelter, and support services for the homeless. However, grants alone are not enough to tackle this problem. We must address the underlying causes of homelessness. Poverty, unemployment, reductions in the social safety net, a lack affordable housing, mental illness, and addiction all contribute to our growing homeless population.

As Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I’m particularly concerned about the high number of homeless veterans. I support partnerships between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs that provide health care and affordable housing vouchers to the men and women who have served in our armed forces. I remain dedicated to working with my colleagues to increase investment in programs that help transition people into housing and offer a wide array of support services so they can find permanent housing. 

Housing Community Project Funding Secured

Under revised guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative may request funding for projects in their community each fiscal year – although only a handful may actually be funded. Projects are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding.

Sunrise at Bogart Permanent Supporitve Housing Development, $3.7 million (FY 2023)

Funding would be used to cover direct construction costs related to the Sunrise at Bogart 23-unit Permanent Supportive and Affordable Housing Project located in the City of Riverside. Specifically, NPHS will provide – in partnership with the City of Riverside, County of Riverside, Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health, and Many Mansions – critically needed stable housing to individuals at risk of being homeless, chronically homeless and low-income individuals.

MoVal Emergency Shelter - Rapid Rehousing Program, $1 million (FY 2023)

Funding would be used to rapidly rehouse approximately 40 homeless households negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Integrated Solutions for Community Wellness and Stable Housing, $3.66 million (FY 2023)

Funding would be used to provide permanent housing, clinical support, mentorship, socio-economic support, and other wrap around services to the region’s vulnerable populations.