• Account for additional needs and challenges faced by linguistically and culturally isolated populations in public investments.
• Include “linguistic and cultural isolation” as a priority in addition to geographic isolation in the HUD NOFA for housing counseling programs; Ensure adequate award allocations for additional counseling time required with Limited English Proficiency populations for services that include translation and family counseling; and establish concrete guidelines on value of organizations providing translation and outreach in AAPI and other LEP populations with respect to leveraged resources.
• Restore uniform, equitable access to mortgage financing options on Hawaiian Home Lands: Renegotiate the HUD MOU with the State of Hawaii, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands around Section 247 – Single Family Insured Mortgages on Hawaiian Home Lands restoring the LTV ratio from the current 75% to the standard 95%; and restoring the eligible uses of home equity to include debt consolidation, continuing education and home improvement and repair.
• Offer farmers financing for their homes and operations using an integrated approach with greater accountability of lenders to offer effective loss mitigation services:
• Ensure that guarantees by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Rural Development at USDA, and Small Business Administration (SBA) adequately expand access to credit, while also protecting farmers when they face financial difficulties in order to avoid foreclosure. Preventing foreclosure will not only help farmers, but will also save taxpayer money in the form of reduced payouts on loan guarantees.
• Included disaggregated data on AAPI borrowers in the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA): HMDA race and ethnicity data should be expanded to include disaggregated AAPI data and language preferences of borrowers to better inform the areas of need for consumer education and protections.

Other Priorities (Not part of the Action Agenda)

• Expand the Native Hawaiian Loan Guarantee (Sect. 184A).
• Preserve and expand funding for Housing Counseling Assistance back to the FY2010 level of $88 million.
• Address barriers to accessing affordable homeownership financing, such as income documentation, among independent contractors and the self employed.
• Increase support for Down Payment Assistance programs and expand eligibility threshold
• Create affordable mortgage products for extended families

• Use HUD disaggregated data especially in places with high AAPI populations such as Hawaii and require community engagement in AFFH guidance
• Create new programs within HUD to support tenant services for tenants living in the private market to preserve the affordable rental housing stock
• Promote permanent affordable housing approaches in public and private housing developments including an inclusionary zoning mandate for any development using public subsidies, and land trusts
• Use Historic Preservation as a tool to preserve affordable housing and commercial sites Increase public investments for the preservation and retrofitting of existing affordable rental housing
• Improve utilization of energy conservation initiatives in AAPI communities through investments in in-language outreach
• Change eligibility for support services and relocation assistance for new management of public housing under the Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
• Rental Assistance Demonstration program: Change eligibility for support services and relocation assistance for new management of public housing under program
• Increase support and flexibility of Community Development Block Grants with a 100% of investments benefitting low-income communities
• Preserve funding for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grants
• Maintain HOME and CDBG funds.

• Ensure that AAPI neighborhoods benefit from the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF).
• Advocate for better accountability to AAPI neighborhoods in the implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act.
• Create low cost and easily accessible financing to acquire site control of properties in “hot markets” for potential affordable housing projects.
• Advocate for housing development and financing models that better accommodates extended family models within the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit project, Housing Choice Vouchers, SRO (single-room-occupancy) Development, and other publicly subsidized affordable housing programs.
• Facilitate increased use of smart growth approaches such as the accessory dwelling unit model in one to three family homes - promoting the creation of safe and affordable housing that accommodates extended families within existing housing stock.
• Incentivize permanent affordable housing approaches in public and private housing developments including inclusionary zoning and other similar approaches.
• Preserve the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

• Promote increased linguistically appropriate services in the financial services industry
• Integrate tracking of housing counseling referrals and preferred language on mortgage applications.
• Mandate housing counseling for affordable mortgage products
• Increased accountability in use of Attorney General Settlement dollars to go toward services
• Preserve and expand funding for Housing Counseling Assistance back to FY2010 level of $88 million

• Advocate for increased systemic testing in gentrifying communities – particularly of under-regulated affordable housing.
• Increase enforcement of Fair Housing laws in privately run co-op boards.
• Require community representation (based on local demographic analysis) on consolidated planning boards.
• Ensure that the promotion of mobility within the new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule does not come at the cost of disinvestment in concentrated communities of color.
• Increase support for Fair Housing Assistance Program – particularly for in-language outreach and enforcement.

• Housing Choice Vouchers:
  -Expansion of Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) including restoration of those lost due to sequester.
  -Improve eligibility for self-employed or cash based earners.
  -Increase threshold of eligibility.
  -Reduce barriers for victims of domestic violence with children.
• Invest in increasing access for individuals across a diverse range of economic levels, including the homeless and extremely low-income.
• Ensure that the issues of income documentation for the self-employed are not barriers to accessing federally subsidized affordable housing.
• Preserve the Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and increase LIHEAP support levels during winter and summer months.