HUD: 2019 Year in Review

Investor Update
January 2, 2020

Source: HUD

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released its 2019 Year in Review outlining the major accomplishments of the agency under Secretary Ben Carson.

“The Trump Administration continues to deliver on its promise to create greater economic opportunity for low-income families and revitalize underserved communities,” said, Secretary Carson. “HUD is committed to doing its part to help families get on the path to self-sufficiency and I look forward to working with President Trump to continue building on these successes in the new year.”

HUD’s achievements in 2019 include:

Advancing Economic Opportunity

•  Served over 990,000 single-family homebuyers through HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgage programs.

•  Oversaw the production or preservation of over 2.6 million insured and assisted multifamily rental units and provided over $4.3 billion in insurance for hospitals and residential care facilities.

•  Continuing to Implement the Expansion of the Moving to Work Demonstration Program from 39 to 139 agencies.

•  Distributed the one-millionth book to low-income children through the Book Rich Environments Initiative.

•  Nearly doubled the number of EnVision Centers across the nation.

Protecting Taxpayers

•  Achieved a 4.84 percent FHA Capital Reserve Ratio, the strongest ratio since 2007.

•  Began development work on a state-of-the-art technology infrastructure for FHA insurance programs, which will replace some technology that is more than 30 years old.

•  Saved $2.7 million by lowering agency costs for shared services.

•  Began implementing a new oversight process for Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Reducing Regulatory Barriers

•  Removed over 600 pieces of outdated or unnecessary subregulatory guidance documents from external websites.

•  Signed a landmark agreement with the Department of Justice on the appropriate use of the False Claims Act with FHA Single Family lenders.

•  Collaborated across the Executive Branch to establish the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, covering eight federal agencies, led by Secretary Ben Carson.

•  Developed a portal enabling Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs) to submit Tribal HUD-VASH data electronically for the first time in HUD’s history, improving and streamlining this grant process.

Helping Disaster Victims Recover

•  Made more than $7.5 billion of funding available to 15 states, local governments, and territories.

•  Expanded the use of the Disaster Standalone Partial Claim to assist victims of disasters in all Presidentially declared Major Disaster Areas by helping homeowners stay current on their mortgage payments, which reduces the number of foreclosures and subsequent claims paid by the FHA.

Reducing Homelessness Among Extremely Vulnerable Populations

•  Launched the Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative to provide youth exiting foster programs who are at risk for homelessness with Housing Choice Vouchers. In the eight months since the start of the initiative, 166 youths have received vouchers.

•  Announced approximately 5,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers to help homeless veterans and their families find and sustain permanent housing.

•  Awarded more than $2.45 billion to help end homelessness.

Providing Safe & Fair Housing

•  Registered more than 1,500 properties to test HUD’s new inspection pilot program, the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) demonstration.

•  Expanded Safety and Security grants to include carbon monoxide detectors.

•  Provided $28 million to address lead-based paint hazards in public housing.

•  Negotiated the largest disability compliance settlement of its kind which put motion a plan to produce over 4,600 fully accessible homes for persons with disabilities in Los Angeles.

•  Reached a major agreement with the City of New York and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) that requires supervision of a Federal Monitor and obligates New York City to provide $1.2 billion in new capital funding over the next five years.

•  Undertook a Secretary-initiated Fair Housing Act complaint against Facebook, to ensure housing-related ads on Facebook’s platforms comply with the law.

Spurring Reinvestment in Communities

•  Preserved and renovated over 17,000 public housing units in FY2019 through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program and expanded the program to include housing for very-low income elderly persons.

•  Invested $3.4 billion in CDBG funds in our nation’s communities and insular areas, creating 19,933 jobs.

•  Announced funding for 1,200 affordable housing units on Indian reservations and in other Indian areas.

•  Implemented program incentives for lenders intending to build or refinance multifamily properties, hospitals, and residential care facilities located in Opportunity Zones.

•  Established new program incentives to facilitate purchases and rehabilitation of single-family primary residences located in Opportunity Zones.

Read more of HUD’s 2019 accomplishments here and learn more about many of the individuals and families who have been impacted by HUD’s programs and services at HUD.gov/humansofhud.

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CEO

Alan Jaffa

Alan Jaffa is the Chief Executive Officer for Safeguard Properties, steering the company as the mortgage field services industry leader. He also serves on the board of advisors for SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.

Alan joined Safeguard in 1995, learning the business from the ground up. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2002, and was named CEO in May 2010. His hands-on experience has given him unique insights as a leader to innovate, improve and strengthen Safeguard’s processes to assure that the company adheres to the highest standards of quality and customer service.

Under Alan’s leadership, Safeguard has grown significantly with strategies that have included new and expanded services, technology investments that deliver higher quality and greater efficiency to clients, and strategic acquisitions. He takes a team approach to process improvement, involving staff at all levels of the organization to address issues, brainstorm solutions, and identify new and better ways to serve clients.

In 2008, Alan was recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business in its annual “40-Under-40” profile of young leaders. He also was named a NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award finalist in 2013.

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Esq., General Counsel and EVP

Linda Erkkila

Linda Erkkila is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Safeguard Properties, with oversight of legal, human resources, training, and compliance. Linda’s broad scope of oversight covers regulatory issues that impact Safeguard’s operations, risk mitigation, strategic planning, human resources and training initiatives, compliance, insurance, litigation and claims management, and counsel related to mergers, acquisition and joint ventures.

Linda assures that Safeguard’s strategic initiatives align with its resources, leverage opportunities across the company, and contemplate compliance mandates. She has practiced law for 25 years and her experience, both as outside and in-house counsel, covers a wide range of corporate matters, including regulatory disclosure, corporate governance compliance, risk assessment, compensation and benefits, litigation management, and mergers and acquisitions.

Linda earned her JD at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She holds a degree in economics from Miami University and an MBA. Linda was previously named as both a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire and as a “Leading Lady” by MReport.

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COO

Michael Greenbaum

Michael Greenbaum is the Chief Operating Officer of Safeguard Properties, where he has played a pivotal role since joining the company in July 2010. Initially brought on as Vice President of REO, Mike’s exceptional leadership and strategic vision quickly propelled him to Vice President of Operations in 2013, and ultimately to COO in 2015. Over his 14-year tenure at Safeguard, Mike has been instrumental in driving change and fostering innovation within the Property Preservation sector, consistently delivering excellence and becoming a trusted partner to clients and investors.

A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mike earned a degree in Quantitative Economics. Following his graduation, he served in the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Branch, where he specialized in supply chain management. Before his tenure at Safeguard, Mike honed his expertise by managing global supply chains for 13 years, leveraging his military and civilian experience to lead with precision and efficacy.

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CFO

Joe Iafigliola

Joe Iafigliola is the Chief Financial Officer for Safeguard Properties. Joe is responsible for the Control, Quality Assurance, Business Development, Marketing, Accounting, and Information Security departments. At the core of his responsibilities is the drive to ensure that Safeguard’s focus remains rooted in Customer Service = Resolution. Through his executive leadership role, he actively supports SGPNOW.com, an on-demand service geared towards real estate and property management professionals as well as individual home owners in need of inspection and property preservation services. Joe is also an integral force behind Compliance Connections, a branch of Safeguard Properties that allows code enforcement professionals to report violations at properties that can then be addressed by the Safeguard vendor network. Compliance Connections also researches and shares vacant property ordinance information with Safeguard clients.

Joe has an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University’s Honors Accounting program.

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Business Development

Carrie Tackett

Business Development Safeguard Properties