From policy to a path forward

A family cannot rebuild a home with a press release. A new program can be well designed. Funding can be approved. Agencies can publish guidance. Lenders, servicers, insurers, builders and local governments can each do their part. Yet a disaster-affected homeowner can still be left asking the most basic question: What do I do next? That is where disaster recovery too often breaks down — not because no one is working, but because everyone is working in a different part of the system. The homeowner becomes the project manager, trying to connect an insurance claim, an existing mortgage, forbearance, loss-draft requirements, rebuilding estimates, construction financing, permits and public assistance while also trying to recover from a disaster. That is too much to ask of a family already carrying too much. When I became CEO of the California Mortgage Bankers Association, I brought a simple belief with me: Advocacy could be expanded through collaboration. I have always viewed advocacy as education —bringing the people who understand an issue into the conversation so policymakers can see how a proposal will work in the real world. But this year has sharpened that belief. Education is only...