Fannie Mae CEO challenges U.S. housing problemsmortgagepress.comFranklin D. Raines, 2000 New York Housing Conference Annual Awards Luncheon, 2000 National Housing Conference, Fannie Mae
At the recent National Housing Conference and the New York
Housing Conference Annual Awards Luncheon, Fannie Mae Chairman and
CEO Franklin D. Raines addressed an audience of nearly 1,400 real
estate professionals with his keynote speech. Mr. Raines noted that
despite recent housing gains, there remains a strong need for
progress in improving access to homeownership, rebuilding inner
city neighborhoods, and the preservation of the nation's affordable
housing supply. Held annually, the Conference honors those who have
made outstanding contributions to affordable housing in the past
year.
In his speech, Mr. Raines noted:
"We've tackled the income barrier by shrinking down payments
to 5%, 3%, and even in some cases, 1%...we've tackled the credit
barrier by using analytics-rather than anecdotes...we've tackled
the information barrier to take the fear, misunderstanding, and
confusion out of this major step in life...and we've tackled the
racial barrier, the different shades of redlining that ignored,
overlooked, or otherwise discriminated against people of
color."
Mr. Raines explained that "all of the progress is terrific, but
we still have a long way to go." Fannie Mae's challenge in the new
millennium, he stated, "is to harness the progress and partnerships
we've built during the 1990's to tackle America's toughest housing
problems." Mr. Raines described these problems as "the minority
homeownership gap...the continuing decay of inner city and inner
suburban neighborhoods...and the dwindling supply of affordable
housing, especially multi-family housing."
Among those honored at the event were Ann F. Kaplan, Managing
Director of Goldman Sachs & Company, who received the
prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for her long-
standing commitment to the financing and delivery of affordable
housing; Elizabeth McCaul, the newly appointed New York State
Banking Superintendent, who received the 1999 Special
Recognition Award; William A. McKenna, Jr., President and CEO
of Ridgewood Savings Bank, who received Distinguished Banking
Award honors; Edward Travaglianti, Chairman and CEO of EAB,
who took home the Distinguished Public Investment Award;
the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce (Robert
Kiley, President and CEO), which was presented the
Distinguished Public Service Award; and The Cypress Hills
Local Development Corporation (Michelle Neugebauer, Executive
Director), which was honored with the Distinguished Community
Service Award.
