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44 HUD SECRETARY CASTRO TOUTS SUCCESS OF DEPARTMENT'S PROGRAMS AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro touted the success of HUD programs such as those to end veteran homelessness and the Jobs Plus Initiative when questioned about HUD's success during a full House Financial Services Committee hearing in June. In the hearing titled, "e Future of Hous- ing in America: Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development," Castro made his second appearance before the full committee since being sworn in as HUD Secretary in July 2014. "For example, HUD, along with our federal and local partners, continues to make progress toward achieving the goals of Presi- dent Obama's Opening Doors initiative to pre- vent and end homelessness," Castro said in his opening remarks. "From 2010 to 2014, we've seen a 21 percent drop in chronic homelessness and a 33 percent drop in veteran homelessness, and we'll keep working until we reach that day when every person who needs housing can find it in our great nation." In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said the median price of new homes has doubled and median rents have gone up by more than a third, putting affordable housing out of reach for many. He also noted the amount of money HUD has spent since its inception nearly 50 years ago—$1.6 trillion—and pointed out the fact that the department is asking for a 9 percent budget increase. "Given the Obama economy of the last six years, clearly taxpayer rental subsidies for the poor are needed," Hensarling said. "But it is also an open question whether housing vouchers and public housing projects—HUD's mainstay—are a long-term solution or are sim- ply helping to create a permanent underclass. For whatever good HUD does, it clearly has not won the War on Poverty. Only economic growth and equal opportunity can do that. In other words, the greatest housing program in America remains a good career path in a growing economy, not a HUD program." During his five-minute allotted period for questioning, Hensarling asked the secretary for statistical evidence that HUD was achieving its original goal of eliminating poverty. Castro re- sponded by citing the 33 percent drop in veteran homelessness and HUD's Jobs Plus Initiative, in which he said individuals tend to earn 14 percent more than individuals who do not. "At the end of the day, we know that our work isn't about program names, or statistics, or charts—it's about people," Castro said. "No matter what side of the aisle you're on, I'm sure we all agree on one thing: that our nation is at its best when every person has an opportunity to thrive. e work that HUD does gives people this opportunity. Working with our partners, we've given this opportunity to those experienc- ing homelessness who've wanted a fresh start, to veterans who needed a little support adjusting to life after service, to older Americans who deserve to live in comfort and dignity, to families who're looking to buy their first home, put down roots and build wealth for themselves and their chil- dren—and we continue to look for new ways to extend these opportunities to all Americans." e Committee's ranking member, Maxine Waters (D-California), said she believed the proposed 9 percent budget increase for HUD is necessary. "And today, HUD is more important than ever," Waters said. "In the wake of the fore- closure crisis, our nation is facing a significant affordable rental housing shortage. Although private capital has an important role to play on this front, it cannot be leveraged without reliable federal funding. To truly address the acute need for affordable rental housing and the epidemic of homelessness, it is absolutely critical that we fully fund and expand the housing and homeless assistance programs that have been so successful at HUD." Castro tweeted the following statement after the hearing: "On both sides of the aisle it's clear – quality housing and strong com- munities play an important role in the lives of the American people." FREDDIE MAC AUCTIONS FIRST EVER EXTENDED TIMELINE POOL OFFERING OF NPLs Freddie Mac announced it sold 157 deeply delinquent non-performing loans (NPLs) totaling about $31 million in aggregate unpaid principal balance (UPB) in its first-ever Ex- tended Timeline Pool Offering (EXPO) sale on June 3. EXPOs differ from Freddie Mac's Stan- dard Pool Offerings in that the loans include smaller pool sizes and a longer marketing period. Freddie Mac is targeting smaller investors with its EXPO auctions, which are intended to give these investors extra time to secure funding to participate in the NPL sales. Freddie Mac began marketing the pool of loans on April 21 and encouraged private investors, minority- and women-owned busi- nesses, nonprofits, and neighborhood advocacy funds to bid in the auction, subject to meeting bidder qualification requirements. ose requirements include: e bidding servicer must be approved by and in good standing with GSEs; the servicers must priori- tize loan modifications over non-home reten- tion solutions and encourage sales to owner occupants and nonprofits; servicers must comply with the Treasury Department's Mak- ing Home Affordable Programs, including the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and must evaluate eligible borrow- ers for those programs; servicers must evaluate borrowers for proprietary modifications when they are deemed non-HAMP eligible; and servicers must honor all completed modifica- tions. e winning bidder for the single pool of loans was Corona Asset Management XII, LLC. e cover bid price, the second-highest bid, was in the high 80s percent of UPB. e weighted average of broker price opinion, loan- to-value was 80 percent; the average loan size of the 157 loans was $199,079; and the note rate was 5.6 percent. e loans in the pool were an average of four years delinquent, meaning the loans have either been previously evaluated or are in various stages of loss mitigation or foreclosure. Approximately 22 percent of the aggregate pool balance was made up of loans that were previously modified and later became delin- quent, according to Freddie Mac. Wells Fargo Securities and the Williams Capital Group acted as advisors to Freddie Mac for the transaction.

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