The Washington Report

On Thursday, January 16, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a confirmation hearing for President-elect Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Mr. Scott Turner.  In addition to joining multiple real estate industry coalition letters in support of his nomination, NAR sent its own letter urging the Senate Committee to vote to confirm Mr. Turner and quickly bring his confirmation up on the Senate floor. 

Mr. Turner is a former Texas State Senator and served as the Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council from 2019 – 2021, which was tasked with developing the Qualified Opportunity Zone program and coordinating it across agencies.  During the hearing Mr. Turner was questioned by Committee members about a range of issues covered by HUD, including affordable housing programs, homelessness, appraisal bias, and fair housing.  He stressed his commitment to addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis and tackling the issue of homelessness in the country, especially homeless veterans.  He pointed to barriers to new development and affordable housing, including restrictive state and local zoning laws, which he would encourage localities to adjust to be more flexible, and committed to maximizing HUD’s budget. 

Mr. Turner’s nomination now awaits a full Committee vote before being sent to the Senate floor for a final vote on his nomination. 

Read NAR's letter to the Senate Banking Committee.

Read the real estate industry coalition letter. 

Real estate professionals use telemarketing calls and texts to promote their services to consumers, which can be an effective tool when implemented in compliance with relevant laws. Under a new FCC rule taking effect January 27, 2025, agents and brokers promoting real estate services must obtain consent directly from the consumer, known as 1-to-1 consent, before using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or sending artificial or prerecorded voice messages.

Please join NAR’s Legal and Advocacy Teams for a joint webinar on the FCC One-to-One Consent Rule taking place on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, from 2 – 3pm ET. This webinar will provide real estate professionals and association staff with best practices to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the new FCC One-to-One Consent Rule to reduce risk while successfully leveraging telemarketing calls and texts as a part of their promotional strategies.

Register for the webinar