Kamala Harris reveals $100 billion plan to increase black home ownership
In her attempt for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris reveals her $100 billion plan to increase Black homeownership.
Kamala Harris revealed her plans on Saturday at the Essence 25th Festival in New Orleans and said it is part of her effort to bridge the wealth gap between white and Black families.
“So an average Black family has just $10 of wealth for every $100 held by a white family,” Harris said during her speech. “So we have to amend that wrong and after years of discrimination, give Black families a real shot at home ownership, historically one of the most powerful drivers of wealth in our country.”
Harris further said her plan would help over four million families with down payments and closing costs in the form of U.S. Housing and Urban Development grants.
According to the presidential hopeful’s website, The grants would require applicants to have sojourned in historically red-lined communities for the preceding 10 years.
Harris stressed what she means by red-lined communities as “sites of deep racial disparities in home value and lending activity.”
“So I will remove restrictions that black Americans face when they go to request for a home loan,” she said.
Harris website further released plans to solve the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that it counts rent, cellphone and utility payments when considering a person’s credit score.
Credit scores are currently based on mortgage payment, student loans, auto loans, and credit cards.
“Howbeit, not all consumers have acquired these assets,” Harris explained on her website.
She added that she anticipates being able to “reduce the wealth gap between white and black households by at least one-third,” with her new plan.
“Join forces with me as we amend the wrongs and write the next chapter of history in our country. The fight of Black women has always been fueled and grounded in faith and in the belief of what is possible,” she concluded.
