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Housing’s (President) Trump Card

It was a nail-biting election night, similar to the roller coaster that was the road to the 2016 presidential election. Every vote mattered coming down to the state counts in the swing states, hotly campaigned by both candidates. But Tuesday night, Republican Donald Trump has been elected as the next President of the United States.

What might housing policy look like under the new Trump administration, and how will Trump work with Congress on housing policy?

In the limited moments that Trump has shared his thoughts on what he would do with the housing market, he stated that one of the big issues facing the housing industry is regulation.

In his speech at the National Association of Home Builders' 2016 Midyear Board of Directors Meeting in Miami, Florida, Trump said, in particular, there is no group regulated harder than the housing industry. Trump said these regulations kill not just the small businesses but jobs in general. Trump shared that he plans to eliminate these regulations and instead implement a method of creating jobs without regulation.

Likewise, in an interview with Reuters in May, Trump said he plans to overhaul the controversial Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that was passed in 2010 in response to the crisis.

“Dodd-Frank has made it impossible for bankers to function,” said Trump. “It makes it very hard for bankers to loan money for people to create jobs, for people with businesses to create jobs. And that has to stop.”

Brian Montgomery, Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of The Collingwood Group and former FHA Commissioner says, "I hope both parties and the new Administration will include on their 'priority list' how to bring some stability and certainty to our nation's housing finance system that will give lenders some comfort that widening the mortgage credit aperture won't later invite regulatory intrusion. Equally important are finding solutions to the shortage of affordable rental housing in particular for very low income families and the elderly."

A lack of priority for housing in Congress is something those in the industry hope to see change with this newly elected house.

"It’s amazing that something so vital as housing to the overall health of the American economy and the average American – is something Congress still can’t rally in support of resolving – especially when the risks associated with continued failure to do so are potentially so serious," says Brian O'Reilly, The Collingwood Group President. "The facts are that housing is a critical component of overall economic health in the US. Thus, continued failure by Congress to address housing reform is reckless and irresponsible.”

Montgomery adds that he hopes both sides will heed the words of Franklin Roosevelt, who on the eve of his re-election in 1936 while citing the amount of work to be done said, "we will keep our sleeves rolled up."