This post was updated on April 29 with a link to the webinar recording.

In an exclusive webinar for NAHB members, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery today outlined specific measures the agency has implemented to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and lauded the efforts of NAHB during this outbreak.

“I commend NAHB for your work in educating employees and subcontractors about jobsite practices to stop the spread of COVID-19 – while keeping our nation’s foundational industries moving,” said Carson.

“NAHB has been a great partner in our fight to provide safe, quality housing to all Americans,” the secretary added. “Our nation’s home builders are critical to the economy and I am confident they will help lead our country back to full strength when we have defeated the coronavirus.”

On March 18, HUD authorized an immediate 60-day moratorium on foreclosures and evictions to help single-family home owners with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

“The last thing any of us wants is for Americans to lose their homes unnecessarily while we continue to fight this invisible enemy,” Carson said.

On the multifamily side, Carson urged renters who can still make payments under the CARES Act – the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package passed by Congress — to continue doing so. “If you can pay, please do because that helps you, it helps your fellow American taxpayers and it helps the nation as a whole,” he said. “Don’t take advantage of forbearance if you don’t need it.”

The CARES Act supports a variety of programs and initiatives at HUD. Specifically, the CARES Act allocates:

• $4 Billion for HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grants Program;
• $1.25 Billion for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance; and
• $1 Billion for Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance.

An additional $5 billion has also been made available in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to alleviate unanticipated costs from COVID-19 in impacted communities.

FHA Commissioner Montgomery said that FHA’s mission is to be a source of strength for the housing market. Towards that end, FHA has put in a place a number of solutions to help lenders originate new loans, including electronic submission of documents, e-closings, flexibilities on appraisal inspections, and waivers for electronic condominium approval applications.

“Many of the changes we at FHA have made have been designed to increase access to FHA loans,” said Montgomery. “If there is any silver lining (to this pandemic), it will result in online trends to make the origination process more efficient and lower costs to borrowers. We will continue to provide any and all flexibilities if and when they make sense.”

Regarding the possibility of using CDBG or HOME funds to meet needs that have risen out of the COVID-19 crisis, Montgomery said that is in the works.

Montgomery also said that “whenever it makes sense,” HUD would consider extending deadlines for construction and required inspections for the FHA-insured multifamily mortgage programs. He emphasized that FHA “wants to provide maximum flexibility. We provide waivers whenever we can.”

“I am grateful for the continued partnership of NAHB members who are serving so many millions of Americans in need while we all do this essential work together,” said Carson.

Members can access a replay of the webinar in the Webinars and Town Halls section of nahb.org/coronavirus.

Becoming a great remodeler requires being service-oriented, passionate and skilled, among other key qualities. But April’s NAHB Remodeler of the Month also attributes his NAHB membership as what elevates his business to the next level.

Alan Archuleta is the NAHB Remodeler of the Month for April.

Alan Archuleta of Archuleta Builders in Morristown, N.J. is an active member of his local chapter, the Metropolitan Builders & Contractors Association of New Jersey (MBCNJ). While he highly regards the education he obtains through the chapter, he considers the relationships he’s built through the MBCNJ and NAHB to be even more valuable.

“After becoming a member, I quickly realized that I will always be able to continue learning more about this industry and how I can improve my own business,” Archuleta said. “We often forget that we are not alone and that there are many resources that NAHB has set up for us small businesses in the home building industry.”

Despite MBCNJ not having a local remodelers council, Archuleta has been able to maximize his member benefits as an at-large member of NAHB Remodelers.

“I have always enjoyed [NAHB Remodelers] for its resources, but also for the amazing bond it facilitates between the members,” he said. “In a world that is full of competition for everything, it is nice to be able to lean on the expertise of others who work in the same industry and who can offer answers, ideas and help when you need it.”

In a Q&A with Qualified Remodeler, Archuleta further described his simple-yet-effective approach to business growth: “As someone who was not the best student and might not be the smartest one in school, I have learned to be among the best in my field through hard work, honesty and leaning on the right people.”

Know a professional remodeler who takes remodeling to the next level? Nominate him or her for NAHB Remodeler of the Month.

Thanks to efforts by NAHB and state home builder associations, the few remaining states that have halted residential construction activity due the COVID-19 pandemic — Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Vermont — are taking steps to allow home building to resume production.

In a critical win for NAHB and the residential construction sector, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 28 designated construction of single-family and multifamily housing as an “Essential Infrastructure Business.” Although this designation was not binding for individual states, most states followed the federal guidelines.

To keep workers safe on the job site, NAHB and other members of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition put together a Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Plan for Construction that outlines the steps every employer and employee should take to reduce the risk of exposure to and transmission of COVID-19. It describes how to prevent worker exposure to coronavirus, protective measures to be taken on the job site, personal protective equipment and work practice controls to be used, cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and what to do if a worker becomes sick. The plan served as the basis for materials provided for the COVID-19 Job Site Safety Stand Down held April 16.

While it was clearly demonstrated that residential construction could continue in a safe manner as long as workers were cautious and altered their normal behavior to comply with these new safety guidelines, five states refused to designate home building as an essential business. NAHB and the state home builders associations remained in contact with the five governors and state officials and now that is changing. Here is the latest update:

Michigan: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in an April 27 news conference that she may soon allow construction to restart in the state if the trajectory of coronavirus hospitalizations goes down and testing goes up. She told Politico that “low-risk” work such as construction and other “outdoor enterprises” could reopen in the next phase.

New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has announced plans to reopen regions of the state in coordinated phases, starting with construction and manufacturing, in mid-May. The Empire State’s number of cases and death rate from the coronavirus is the highest in the nation.

Pennsylvania: Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced that all businesses in the construction industry are permitted to resume in-person operations beginning on Friday, May 1, as long as mandatory safety protocols are in place. The order says that operations can resume “pursuant to the Governor’s and Secretary of Health’s April 20, 2020 amendments to the Business Closure Orders so long as their activities strictly adhere to this guidance.” View more details here.

Washington: Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced the first phase of construction openings in his state on April 24. Reps. Dan Newhouse (R) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) also contributed to this effort. More details on the construction openings can be found here. Building Industry Association of Washington Executive Vice President Greg Lane was part of the working group that developed the safety guidance to allow construction to begin in the state.

Vermont: As of April 27, Gov. Phil Scott (R) allowed outdoor home building activities to resume with a maximum of five total workers per job site. Interior construction may occur in uninhabited structures, adhering to social distancing standards, with no more than five workers maintaining social distance between them whenever possible.

Access NAHB’s updated map showing where construction can continue and all of the safety resources to help employers and workers remain safe on the job site.