Urban Housing Development Secretary Scott Turner put budget cuts and department name changes at the top of his list, but fair housing and diversity, equity and comprehensive programs were not significantly present. .
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Hours after his confirmation, Scott Turner of the Housing and Urban Development Agency, has announced that he will be the most recent in the next four years, including changing the department name, a major budget overhaul and helping to privatize Fannie May and Freddie Mac. We outlined our priorities.
Scott Turner
In an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal, Turner said his team will pass HUD’s programs and policies with a “fine-tooth comb” to determine which department’s budget can be minimized or eliminated .
HUD’s Housing Selection Voucher Program, well known as Section 8, could be the first area of widespread change as Turner already says he wants to reduce the scope of the program by enacting work requirements . Turner also said HUD’s diversity, equity and comprehensive policy will be scrutinized. However, he did not provide details about which policies were at risk, including fair housing.
While the voucher is on cutting edge floors, Turner said he looks forward to expanding the opportunity zone program he led during his first Trump term. The Opportunity Zone Program provides developers with tax credits when investing capital gains realized in projects across 8,700 designated zones. He also renamed the HUD to bring to mind the idea that it would reflect the presence of sectors in rural and tribal communities.
“[It would] I take a lot of time, conversations and thoughts,” he said of the name change.
Turner also highlighted the privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as top-line items. Government sponsored companies rely on their business models to buy loans from banks and sell them as mortgage-backed securities – was placed under the reserve during the subprime mortgage crisis. Ta. Fannie and Freddie are raw from $5.4 trillion in debt, with their latest net worth reaching $147 billion.
President Trump announced a 49-point plan in 2019 to privatize government-sponsored businesses. However, the plan did not get enough traction by the end of his term. Housing experts hope Trump will take a second shot to steal Fanny and Freddie’s private life. This time, Private Equity CEO Bill Parte could potentially be at the helm of a federal housing finance agency.
Turner said he is ready to support the FHFA and the Treasury in his privatization efforts.
“We have a partner at the table and obviously we will be one of them,” he said. “When you’re a quarterback, you have to work with the whole huddle.”
As Turner is ready to move forward with his HUD vision, several housing rights groups are sharing the priorities of their new secretaries.
“Fairhousing is a national policy in the United States,” said Niki Trabailey, executive vice president of the National Fairhousing Alliance in writing. “As our country tackles a fair and affordable housing crisis affecting millions, the new HUD secretary must prioritize solutions for everyday people struggling with rising housing costs. It must be decided.”
Bailey said he is particularly concerned about the future of the Real Estate Valuation and Valuation Stock (Pave) task force, which was removed from HUD’s website. The task force was important in combating rating bias among black home sellers who reported being under lowball ratings compared to white counterparts living in the same area.
LoandePot solved a high-profile rating bias case in 2022 that involved a black couple whose home was underrated for $250,000 during their initial assessment. The results jumped from $472,000 to $750,000 when the couple replaced the photo with a photo of their white friend before the second rating.
“HUD’s mission calls for the creation of a vibrant and inclusive community with opportunities for all to thrive, and agencies are required to take the assessment bias through the Property Assessment and Evaluation Equity (Pave) task force. It demonstrated important leadership in ultimately creating a government-wide approach to dealing with it,” she said. “Evaluation bias is a function and should be eliminated using Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws, rather than a bug in the housing system that must be addressed.”
“The NFHA looks forward to meeting with the HUD Executive Director to discuss priorities regarding civil rights protection and fair housing, equitable opportunities and advancement in a prosperous community,” she added.
Meanwhile, the National Alliance to End Homelessness has pleaded with Turner to focus on homelessness at the national record level. In its 2024 Points-in-Time Report, HUD said that over 770,000 people lived in shelters, temporary housing or on the streets.
“The Alliance calls for a joint, nonpartisan approach to dealing with homelessness, highlighting the impact that homelessness and affordability of housing will affect people with red and blue conditions,” the statement said. I’ve read it. “The solution must be evidence-based and communicated through invaluable insights from the community and people with living experiences of homelessness.”
“The Alliance is particularly urging Turner to leverage the deep expertise of HUD’s career staff. HUD has a rigorous evaluation and understanding of what’s best for making housing affordable and ending people’s homelessness. I have dedicated my career,” he added.
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