What the Biden Administration Might Mean for Housing

Only 58 days out from a new administration, the housing industry continues to wonder what changes will ensue when Biden and Harris take office. HousingWire says that while Republicans may typically lean toward less housing oversight as Democrats lean toward more government support for housing, things may be different under the Biden-Harris administration. Oversight for mortgage lenders during the Obama administration was much more aggressive than it will be under Biden, says HousingWire. The presidential transition team is currently reviewing government agencies, and some of these review teams for HUD, for example, have some familiar names, which can provide some insight on how the HUD may run under Biden.

So how should we think about a Biden administration? Here are some key elements:

Transition: At this point the transition team has assigned ‘Agency Review Teams’ to each regulator and, not surprisingly, there are many familiar names on these teams that will affect housing. The HUD team is headed by a former political from the Obama years, Erica Poethig, and the team consists of several others from that administration, as well as names like Julia Gordan, a long-time credible consumer advocate for housing policy in Washington.

Treasury, NEC, CFPB, and more have known similar members. Treasury, for example, has Helen Kanovsky. Kanovsky was the general counsel at HUD during both Secretary Donovan and Castro’s tenure. She then joined the Mortgage Bankers Association as the general counsel there until her recent retirement.

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