Dear Community Partner,

On Nov. 16, Consumer Action is celebrating its 51st anniversary, with the theme "Restoring Trust." As part of this special event, we will host a free virtual convening (webinar) to examine how to overcome barriers to housing and access to credit, which are chief contributors to spiraling housing insecurity. We also will explore how lawmakers, community leaders, and private, public and community-based organizations can collaborate to create solutions to this crisis.

In the United States, approximately 26 million Americans are “credit invisible” and unscorable. Without a credit score, or with an inaccurately lower score due to credit reporting errors, it is challenging for consumers to access credit, loans (including mortgages) and rental housing. Most consumers excluded from the financial system are immigrants, minorities, students and renters.

The lack of credit scores that landlords and mortgage lenders require, combined with a limited housing market with few affordable or accessible options, frequently pushes consumers into substandard or unaffordable homes. When housing costs are more than a household can afford, this can lead to foreclosure or eviction, which can impact consumers beyond the immediate loss of a home, pushing households into poverty and homelessness and hindering their ability to obtain decent housing in the future. 

Let's discuss!

The virtual convening will feature speakers Gabe del Rio, president and CEO of Homeownership Council of America; attorney Kevin S. Rabin, director of litigation at Three Rivers Legal Services; Mike Koprowski, national campaign director for the National Low Income Housing Coalition; Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative for the Center for American Progress; and Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center.

This virtual event will cover:

An examination of the barriers to safe, affordable and accessible housing for older Americans, disabled consumers and renters
A look at the structural barriers and biases that impede access to affordable credit and financial services
A discussion on how persistent barriers to housing and access to essential financial services are impacting certain communities
Solutions, such as special purpose credit programs (SPCPs), and common-sense policy reform, such as eviction record expungement, that can increase access to housing
Ways lawmakers and public, private and community-based organizations can work together to restore trust by ensuring equal access to credit and housing for all consumers

AFC professionals can earn 1.5 CEUs for participation in this free, 90-minute virtual convening.

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022
Time: 10:00 a.m. PT (11:00 a.m. MT; 12:00 p.m. CT; 1:00 p.m. ET)
Click here to register.

If you have questions for our guest speakers, please send them to [email protected] by Nov. 9. We want to hear from you! Also, please email me with any questions regarding this event.

Please share this learning opportunity with your colleagues, coalitions and community groups. We look forward to your participation.

Sincerely,

Linda Williams
Community Outreach and Training Manager
Consumer Action

Through education and advocacy, nonprofit Consumer Action fights for strong consumer rights and policies that promote fairness and financial prosperity for underrepresented consumers nationwide.

www.consumer-action.org

©2022 Consumer Action
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