December 3, 2012
Contact: Amy Clark, amy@nlihc.org, 202.662.1530 x227

Housing Groups Call on Congress, Administration to Fund Low Income Housing with MID Reform

Any change to the mortgage interest deduction must, in whole or in part, support the building and rehabilitation of housing affordable to the lowest income Americans.

This is the message sent to the Obama Administration and Congressional leadership today in letters from over 20 national organizations that work to preserve and expand the supply of housing affordable to low income people. 

The letters assert that “[h]ousing that is affordable for low income and vulnerable people has been neglected by the federal government for decades,” and that recent polling shows the public supports modifications to the mortgage interest deduction that can help create jobs and end homelessness.

End-of-year negotiations between the Obama Administration and Congress over measures necessary to avert the so-called fiscal cliff and replace sequestration have opened the door for the possibility of previously untenable changes to the mortgage interest for the purpose of deficit reduction. 

Acknowledging the pressing nature of the fiscal challenges facing the nation, the signatories agree that the fiscal cliff negotiations present a unique window in which to finally address housing needs that have gone unmet for decades. “This moment in time offers the opportunity to achieve a greater measure of fairness in federal housing policy, without adding to the deficit,” they write.

View the letter to the Administration, the letter to Senate leadership and the letter to House leadership.

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Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, the National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.

National Low Income Housing Coalition 
727 15th Street NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005
202/662-1530 | Fax 202/393-1973 | www.nlihc.org