On the Friday, Oct. 24 edition of OPEN AGENDA (S2 E61) we discuss affordable housing with our guest, Molly Hilligoss, the president/CEO of Habitat for Humanity Wicomico County. Ms. Hilligoss walks us through the various programs designed to help low-income families with buying a home, as well as programs to assist existing homeowners with critical renovations. These various programs are largely funded through government subsidies, tax deferments, donations, and even a bit of “sweat equity.” Habitat is also pursuing creative means of financing to reduce principal & interest payments, such as 40-year mortgages. Home ownership has become increasingly out-of-reach for too many families, and Habitat for Humanity has undoubtedly done great good in communities across America. But the lack of affordable housing may be attributable to market and economic distortions created by the government's involvement in home mortgages. We question whether it's a legitimate function of government to provide funding, guarantees, subsidies and secondary markets for mortgages, and examine the risks to our banking system thereby created.

It's no secret that Maryland -and by extension Wicomico County- is facing an epic crisis of affordable housing that keeps getting worse. We examine what is happening, what’s not happening, and what should happen with regard to housing access across Wicomico County. Please note the timestamps below and consider sharing this episode on an issue that affects all of us in the community:

1:24 Introducing Molly Hilligoss

1:56 Habitat's Down Payment Assistance Program

7:33 Rental Cost Increases and Interest Rates

9:19 Homeownership and Lending Challenges

10:31 Habitat for Humanity’s Property Tax Deferment Program

13:00 SBY’s Housing First Program Changes

15:38 Future Housing Challenges

18:10 Chef’s for Habitat Event

20:32 The Albatross of Affordable Housing

21:50 Developers Taking advantage of the Housing Crisis?

22:26 SBY’s and Rental Schemes

23:30 Mike Goldberg’s Mortgage Analysis

26:50 The Political Uniparty of Developer Support