Housing
Affordable Housing is Key to a Strong Economy and a Healthy Community
Senator Reed is working hard to help stabilize the real estate market for homeowners, renters, and businesses so our economy can recover.
Reed has long championed efforts to make affordable rental housing options available to more Americans, and wrote the law creating an affordable housing trust fund to build, preserve, and rehabilitate affordable rental homes.
As the New York Times noted: “Mr. Reed has had a passion for housing issues throughout his career. Beginning in the early 1980s when, as a young lawyer, he did pro bono work for Amos House, a Providence soup kitchen and social service agency, and continuing after his election to the Rhode Island Assembly, the House and finally the Senate.”
Read More »He has also been a champion of fixing America’s broken foreclosure process. In an effort to protect consumers and hold banks and servicers accountable for providing relief to qualified homeowners, Reed introduced the Preserving Homes and Communities Act. This bill would establish a clear set of rules and procedures in order to prevent more faulty foreclosures and to protect troubled borrowers who have been misled into expecting loan modifications that never materialized.
Key Priorities & Accomplishments
- Reed helped preserve the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), a program that has helped construct nearly 12,500 units of affordable rental housing in Rhode Island and generated over $100 million in revenue for cities, towns, and the state.
- To help bolster Rhode Island’s economy and provide qualified homeowners with additional resources to prevent foreclosures, Senator Reed has secured over $105 million in federal foreclosure prevention funds through the Hardest Hit program, which is administered by Rhode Island Housing, and Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds.
- To help communities nationwide reduce homelessness, Senator Reed wrote and passed the bipartisan Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. This law simplified and consolidated competitive HUD homelessness assistance programs and allowed more funding to flow to communities that demonstrate a commitment to preventing and ending homelessness.
- Reed increased funding to remove lead based paint from homes, educate families about the dangers of lead poisoning, and train inspectors and workers to identify lead contamination in housing. Since 1998, Senator Reed has helped secure over $40 million for Rhode Island lead poisoning prevention programs.
The Latest
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Reed, Whitehouse & Langevin Announce $1.1 Million for Westerly Flood Protection & Wetlands Restoration
WESTERLY, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representative Jim Langevin today announced that the Town of Westerly will receive over $1.1 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant funding to acquire flood-ravaged properties located on Can...
Posted on 1/9/2013 | -
U.S. Senate Approves Reed’s Bipartisan Housing Assistance for Veterans Amendment
The U.S. Senate today gave unanimous approval to a bipartisan amendment authored by U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Mike Johanns (R-NE) to help upgrade veterans’ housing. The Housing Assistance for Veterans Act (HAVEN Act) authorizes a competitive, five year, $20 mi...
Posted on 12/3/2012 | -
Reed Announces Nearly $900,000 in HUD Grants to Help Residents Get Job Training
PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senator Jack Reed today announced that ten Rhode Island housing agencies will receive nearly $900,000 in federal funding to help public and assisted housing residents find work and receive assistance. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants may b...
Posted on 9/21/2012 | -
Reed Announces $5 million for RIAC Noise Abatement & Land Acquisition Program
In an effort to help more families who are adversely affected by airport noise near T.F. Green Airport, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) will receive $5 million from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to acquire addition...
Posted on 9/14/2012 | -
FAA to pay $5 million to buy houses near R.I. airport
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Posted on 9/14/2012 | -
Reed’s Bill to Expand Housing Protections for Troops Advances in Senate
U.S. Senator Jack Reed’s plan to help protect the financial well-being of thousands of U.S. troops and their families gained momentum this week when it received bipartisan approval from a key Senate panel. Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs unanimously...
Posted on 9/13/2012 | -
Burnside Apartments Groundbreaking Ceremony
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Posted on 8/21/2012 |