Advocates, Members of House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Respond to Housing Cuts for Veterans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Advocates, Members of House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Respond to Housing Cuts for Veterans
End of Foreclosure Prevention Program and Fair Housing Grants
Puts Veterans’ Housing Opportunities at Risk
Washington, D.C. — Today, advocates from the National Fair Housing Alliance® (NFHA™) and the National Consumer Law Center joined members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in front of the Capitol to call out the administration’s devasting cuts to housing programs that serve veterans, including the nation’s fair housing programs and the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program.
“Our veterans were brave enough to serve and sacrifice for this country. But now this administration is trying to ram through cuts that will worsen the fair and affordable housing crisis. They will deny these veterans the American Dream of safe and stable housing,” said Maureen Yap, Vice-President of Public Policy and Senior Counsel for Fair Lending at NFHA, in a statement provided at the event.
“The administration has thoughtlessly cancelled the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which was the only option that helped our veterans get an affordable payment. And the administration has not stopped there. In another devastating blow to housing for veterans, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) cancelled grants for local fair housing groups and seeks to make these cuts permanent in the new budget,” Ms. Yap added.
Ms. Yap also highlighted how veterans’ groups are impacted by the cuts to fair housing at federal government agencies (including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and HUD) and for local fair housing groups:
• Veterans with disabilities will not be protected if their landlords or homeowner’s associations deny them a handicapped parking space, a wheelchair ramp, or a service animal.
• Black and Latino veterans will not be protected if they experience mortgage pricing discrimination, appraisal discrimination, or denial of rental housing.
• Female veterans will not be protected if the landlord requests sexual favors in exchange for rent or if they are denied housing because they have children.
• LGBTQ veterans can easily be turned away from safe, stable housing because of who they are or who they love.
The full remarks can be viewed on this YouTube video.
The VA should restore the VASP and Congress should fully fund the Fair Housing Initiatives Program to ensure the nation’s fair and affordable housing crisis is not worsened for veterans and others throughout our nation.
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The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for 200 fair housing and justice-centered organizations throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.