Corporate Responsibility - Housing

The housing industry has a unique place in the marketplace. Housing is usually the biggest line item in families' budgets. Because of the cost and emotional weight a home has to the people living there the relationships between them and the people or companies providing the housing need to be carefully managed.


Mortgage Companies
The housing crash from the end of last decade illuminated a lot of examples of where the industry did a very bad job at loving their customers. Beyond that, because of their poor behavior the entire US economy suffered severe damage. Their behavior was short sighted and bad for everyone.

The why of this is complicated, but the what was pretty simple. Mortgage companies gave loans to people who were terrible credit risks. It was "nice" to give people with limited means opportunities to own homes, but it was not loving at all. It meant that they were allowed to get into a position that lead to them losing their house, destroyed them financially, and led to widespread economic turmoil.

What mortgage companies should do, for their own stability and for the best interest of their customers is to hold high standards for loans. Ensure that the loans being sold can be safely repaid without serious risk to the borrower.

Inspectors/Appraisers
This was a piece that contributed to the housing crisis. Appraisers in many cases inappropriately inflated house values. This "helped" sellers because their property values went up and up and up. It "helped" buyers because they were able to get cash above and beyond the asking price at the cost of more debt.

In the end the dishonesty allowed the inflation which played a big role in making homes unaffordable and attracting the investment cash that expanded the bubble. Instead, to show love to everyone, inspectors and appraisers need to accurately express the condition and value of properties even if it makes people mad. It has the opportunity to protect people from otherwise poor decisions.

Builders
This is pretty straight forward, but is part of the industry. Builders should show love to the future residents of the homes they are building by making them well. They should not cut corners in material quality or construction methods. They should build homes that are safe and sturdy.

When homes are built poorly it really degrades the quality of life of the residents and hurts the surrounding community with lower property values which correlates to higher crime.

Landlords
Renting, especially after the housing crisis has increased significantly. Therefore the relationship between landlord and renter is more significant across the culture as it has been for a long time. Landlords and renters should have a close relationship. The reason for this is the renter is paying a large sum of money for their home, and the landlord is exposing a valuable asset to potential damage and misuse.

I don't have any major specifics for this one because it is a varied and complicated subject. However, clarity of expectations on both sides is important as well as open and regular communication throughout. The landlord needs to protect his asset and the renter needs a safe and well maintained place to call home. There is no need for a win-lose scenario.

Realtors
The key for realtors is simply honesty and transparency. Some people want to buy crappy houses, and that's fine. But covering up real issues or pushing people to buy beyond their means are bad ways to show love to buyers.