President-elect Obama announced his nominee for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development — Shaun Donovan. Here is the video of the announcement. The person who heads HUD will have a major impact on how much government help will be available to struggling homeowners over the next four years. HUD is the organization that manages both FHA and VA loans and HUD decides who qualifies and who does not. President-elect Obama said the following:
To stem the rising tide of foreclosures and strengthen our economy, I’ve asked my economic team to develop a bold plan that will dramatically increase the number of families who can stay in their homes. But this plan will only work with a comprehensive, coordinated federal effort to make it a reality. We need every part of our government working together — from the Treasury Department to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that protects the money you’ve put in the bank. And few will be more essential to this effort than the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the end, expanding access to affordable housing isn’t just about caring for the least fortunate among us and strengthening our middle class — it’s about ending our housing mess, climbing out of our financial crisis, and putting our economy on the path to long-term growth and prosperity. And that is what Shaun and I will work to do together when I am President of the United States.
With any luck Mr. Donovan will come up with programs that will actually help the millions of Americans who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads.