Sen. Corzine Wins Affordable Housing Award
U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ) is the recipient of this year’s Robert J. Corletta Award for Achievement in Affordable Housing. The award is given jointly by NAHB and the Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NDC) during NAHB’s spring board of directors meeting in Washington, D.C. to individuals who have shown extraordinary creativity and dedication in advocating advances in affordable housing. “Sen. Corzine has been especially active in efforts to expand housing opportunities for America’s working families,” said Bob Nielsen, whose company Shelter Properties, Inc. develops affordable multifamily housing in Nevada. “This award recognizes his leadership on legislation that spurs the production of both affordable rental apartments as well as for-sale housing.” Corzine was elected to the Senate in 2000, after serving as co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of the investment company Goldman Sachs. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, he has been a strong activist on affordable housing issues in both the multifamily and single-family sectors as well as a stand-out voice on important related issues, such as the current effort to reform the regulatory oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. In presenting the award on April 14, NAHB and the NDC lauded Corzine for his sponsorship of legislation in the 108th Congress that enhanced the effectiveness of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) multifamily mortgage insurance program, which is used to encourage construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing. The legislation not only gave the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) more flexibility to increase the maximum mortgage loan limits in high cost areas, but also indexed the loan limits to inflation. Corzine’s leadership on the bill was crucial to its passage in the Senate. The award is named in honor of Robert Corletta, long-time executive director of multifamily operations at NAHB before his death in 1998. Corletta was recognized by his peers as a visionary in the affordable housing industry, particularly for his efforts supporting congressional passage of the Community Reinvestment Act. Enacted in 1977, the legislation requires banks and other lending institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, and has enabled affordable housing to be created in many low- and moderate-income neighborhoods across the country. In 1978, Corletta co-founded NDC, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to help re-build America’s communities through the creation of affordable housing and comprehensive community development. Past recipients of the award include Stillman D. Knight, deputy assistant secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs at HUD; Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.); Robert Gould, vice president of Reilly Mortgage Group; Ted Dinerstein, chief executive officer of the Dinerstein Companies; Larry Swank, president of The Sterling Group; and Judith Siegel, president of the Landex Corporation. | 
