Ed DeMarco on Biden’s approach to forbearance

President Joe Biden has stayed busy since taking office last month, including issuing a slew of executive orders and other plans, including forbearance options for homeowners. 

On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order instructing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to extend the foreclosure moratorium until March 31. And his nominee for HUD Secretary, Marcia Fudge, has vowed to make housing discrimination a priority if her nomination is approved.

Today’s Mortgage Desk segment of HousingWire Daily features an interview with Housing Policy Council President and former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Ed DeMarco. In this episode, DeMarco talks about the Biden administration’s plans for homeowners coming out of forbearance and its focus moving forward.

Here is a small preview of today’s interview, lightly edited for length and clarity:

Kelsey Ramírez: How will this administration’s focus on housing discrimination affect how it approaches forbearance and housing assistance strategies?

Ed DeMarco: There’s no doubt that the new administration has a keen focus on the racial homeownership gap. That is a fact that the majority of white families have greater homeownership rates than most communities of color. And so that is a real priority and concern for [the administration]. And understandably – we welcome that. In terms of how does that translate into approaches with forbearance and housing assistance? There may be a heightened attention or wanting to make sure that every opportunity has been given to a family that’s in forbearance to be able to stay in their home when they reach the end of the forbearance period – to find a successful strategy to allow them to keep their home. Because as we know, the pandemic has economically affected communities of color harder.

HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Victoria Wickham.