Housing
Affordable Housing is Key to a Strong Economy and a Healthy Community
Senator Reed is working hard to help stabilize the real estate market for homeowners, renters, and businesses so our economy can recover.
Reed has long championed efforts to make affordable rental housing options available to more Americans, and wrote the law creating an affordable housing trust fund to build, preserve, and rehabilitate affordable rental homes.
As the New York Times noted: “Mr. Reed has had a passion for housing issues throughout his career. Beginning in the early 1980s when, as a young lawyer, he did pro bono work for Amos House, a Providence soup kitchen and social service agency, and continuing after his election to the Rhode Island Assembly, the House and finally the Senate.”
Read More »He has also been a champion of fixing America’s broken foreclosure process. In an effort to protect consumers and hold banks and servicers accountable for providing relief to qualified homeowners, Reed introduced the Preserving Homes and Communities Act. This bill would establish a clear set of rules and procedures in order to prevent more faulty foreclosures and to protect troubled borrowers who have been misled into expecting loan modifications that never materialized.
Key Priorities & Accomplishments
- Reed helped preserve the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), a program that has helped construct nearly 12,500 units of affordable rental housing in Rhode Island and generated over $100 million in revenue for cities, towns, and the state.
- To help bolster Rhode Island’s economy and provide qualified homeowners with additional resources to prevent foreclosures, Senator Reed has secured over $105 million in federal foreclosure prevention funds through the Hardest Hit program, which is administered by Rhode Island Housing, and Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds.
- To help communities nationwide reduce homelessness, Senator Reed wrote and passed the bipartisan Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. This law simplified and consolidated competitive HUD homelessness assistance programs and allowed more funding to flow to communities that demonstrate a commitment to preventing and ending homelessness.
- Reed increased funding to remove lead based paint from homes, educate families about the dangers of lead poisoning, and train inspectors and workers to identify lead contamination in housing. Since 1998, Senator Reed has helped secure over $40 million for Rhode Island lead poisoning prevention programs.
The Latest
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Reed Backs Watt to Lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency
Today, after President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Banking Committee, issued the following statement: “Mel Watt is a strong pick to lead the...
Posted on 5/1/2013 | -
Reed Celebrates Opening of Veteran Services Center
Senator Reed joins Rhode Island Housing in a ribbon cutting ceremony at Operation Stand Down Rhode Island’s Hartford Avenue location in Johnston to celebrate the opening of its newest expansion of its permanent housing and supportive service facilities for homeless and disabled veterans. This $1.3 milli...
Posted on 4/15/2013 | -
Reed Celebrates Opening of Newly Constructed Westerly Area Rest Meals, Inc. Center in Westerly
Senator Jack Reed celebrates the opening of the new Rev. Jean Barry Center for Social Services will provide affordable rental housing and critical support services to Rhode Islanders in need.Reed helped secured a $292,200 federal earmark to help finance this project....
Posted on 4/10/2013 | -
Reed and Collins Seek to Save Weatherization Assistance Program
In an effort to put federal dollars to good use making homes energy efficient and creating jobs, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators led by Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are urging the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to take action and use its authority to prevent the We...
Posted on 3/28/2013 | -
Senator Presents Sue Bodington the Jack Reed Advocacy Award for Work on Affordable Housing; Announces $4.79 Million to Help Homeless
WARWICK, RI - Today at the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless annual awards luncheon, U.S. Senator Jack Reed presented Sue Bodington, Deputy Director for Programs at Rhode Island Housing, with the 2013 Jack Reed Advocacy Award for her deep and abiding dedication to promoting affordable housing...
Posted on 3/25/2013 | -
Reed & Blunt Introduce the Family Self-Sufficiency Act
In an effort to help low-income families receiving federal housing assistance develop the skills they need to improve their financial status and achieve greater economic independence, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) today introduced the Family Self-Sufficiency Ac...
Posted on 3/6/2013 | -
Reed Questions Housing Industry Leaders on FHA Reform
Posted on 2/28/2013 |
