Congressman Rubén Hinojosa Introduces Legislation To Improve Housing Conditions In Rural America

Washington, D.C. – April 23, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15) this week, introduced the Housing Assistance Council Reauthorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 5122). The bill will authorize $10 million in funding for the Housing Assistance Council Program for fiscal year 2012; and $15 million in funding for the Housing Assistance Council Program for each of fiscal years 2013-2017. The funding will allow the HAC Program to continue providing financial and other aid to its national network of hundreds of rural nonprofit builders.

“Affordable rural housing is needed now more than ever as job losses and home foreclosures reduce the already inadequate housing options for low-income rural Americans”, said Hinojosa.

As the only national housing and community development program that uses its funding solely for projects in rural America and small towns, HAC helps local communities meet the challenges rural America currently faces. HAC’s programs focus on local solutions, empowerment of the poor, reduced dependency, and self-help strategies. Since 1971, HAC has committed more than $256 million to help create more than 64,000 homes, and has provided over 2,000 loans and grants in 49 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to making loans, HAC also provides direct technical assistance to all providers of affordable rural housing, including nonprofits, faith-based groups, local governments, housing authorities, and tribal groups.

While HAC serves all of rural America, special emphasis is placed on high-need areas, including Appalachia, the Lower Mississippi Delta and the Southeast, Native American areas, the colonias and other areas along the United States-Mexico border, and migrant farmworker regions. These are areas where poverty rates and housing needs are very high, development capacity is low and conventional financing and development tools do not always work. The HAC Program has helped fill that void.

Hinojosa added, “Twenty percent of our nation’s population lives in rural communities, yet far too many of these families live in housing conditions that are poor, inadequate, or run-down”. “This bill will help improve the overall quality of life for rural residents”. “It will help us continue further down the path to improving the affordability, availability and quality of housing in rural America”.

H.R. 5122, The Housing Assistance Council Program Reauthorization Act of 2010, will provide HAC with the resources it needs to support rural communities’ efforts to provide quality and affordable housing in Fiscal Years 2012-2017.