15 minute read
Ray Carlisle, President and CEO of NAREB, Investment Division
RAY CARLISLE
If you look back, on the last 20 years, studying the greatest influencers in the world, the likes of Gandhi, Christ, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Bhutto, Margaret Thatcher, Rosa Parks, John Maxwell, and so many others, you realize that it was not just their actions that made them influential or great people. It was not because of the power they wielded, nor the money, position, or even authority. They were influential people because of who they were and the traits that they possessed.
In the 21st century, we are also seeing an upshot- adding to the list of these great people- people who are changing lives on so many fronts through their efforts, more so in the housing industry. This is actually one of the industries where the lines of equality and justice grow thinner and where if people are not careful they may become misguided and cross the boundaries of justice and do what’s right. The housing industry is very different from most other industries. It is extremely easy for a realtor to discriminate and deny equal opportunity to a client for whatever reason. And as such, our cover this month goes into detail about housing, his journey, and his accomplishments so far.
MR. RAY CARLISLE AND HOW HE JOINED THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REAL ESTATE BROKERS
Ray joined The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) in 1968 inspired by the 1967 NAREB Convention in San Francisco where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the keynote speaker. In his address to the large gathering of Black and Whites alike, Dr. King talked about Black Power and how much money it would take the community to restore urban areas. One thing was evident, resources were needed both in terms of money and intellectual capital.
“He was addressing the term black power. What is black power, it’s economic power, that’s what he was telling us, and that registered with me.”
Even before the convection, Ray was already so much involved in the real estate industry and even though not as a real estate agent. He comes from a family that has
been in real estate since 1939 and therefore naturally, he would follow in the footsteps of his parents and grandparents before him. But, the more he got involved with the inner dynamics of the real estate world, the more it dawned on him the many vices that were happening back then. Back then, discrimination used to happen so openly that it was considered a lifestyle. Ray first noticed the way black real estate professionals had to compare themselves to the white and he notes, “ it was foreign to me.”
He could never come to terms with how a respected black real estate professional and a highly respected business person in their community were segregated or had to segregate and subordinate themselves to their white peers in a community. That confused him, he couldn’t understand it! And therefore he saw NAREB as the vehicle that could connect him to meet with other giants in the industry from all over the country. The platform helped him become more aware of the challenges that black real estate professionals faced- breaking these barriers to becoming multi-millionaires.
“And so my study was how did they do it with all of these challenges, with all the discrimination the lack of access to credit. Women couldn’t buy a house without their husbands and it, therefore, relegated them to living in poverty even if they had good jobs, they’d be college-educated and so fair housing was something that we all really didn’t understand, it was a bridge to economic freedom and economic security.” “when I say freedom it’s the freedom for women to be able to purchase on their own.”
NAREB became more like a church to Ray and he notes, “...and so homeownership is a community-building effort in my mind and it’s a natural connection to the church. The church is the strongest institution in our communities. We gather ourselves at the church and we learn to respect one another. We learn to hold one another accountable. it shouldn’t just be inside the church stone it should be something that used to be and needs to be returned back to the community and so NAREB was that church, that community, and that business all in one.”
THE QUESTION OF LAND, PROPERTY OWNERSHIP, AND FAIRNESS EQUALITY AND FREEDOM
African Americans from time immemorial always owned land and have always had a special connection to their land. According to Ray, that is where you build your own property, and take care of your family and that is where you protect your family therefore for the blacks do not own land they are separating themselves from their roots. They owned their lands, but it so happened that they were made slaves that farmed those lands and enriched the people that held them against their will. It is important to recognize that, without the African Americans, the Whites wouldn’t have been able to amass the wealth that they now have. Ray argues that a person owns the land because their spirit and soul are connected to the land. NAREB as an organization shared that same ideology and naturally, Ray found a second home and a church in NAREB. He proudly says that he knows every single NAREB President personally since the third president of the organization. Therefore, it is an organization that he is so proud of.
Interestingly, The First Black Congressman from California Augustus Hawkins, who by the way helped establish the Congressional Black Caucus, when he was a state assemblyperson in 1935 no year passed without him producing a fair housing bill. Of Course, the bills never passed. This goes to show that the fight for equality in social matters did not start with NAREB or the 1968 Fair Housing Act. it was always there and dates back to African American ancestors.
“We were promised the 40 acres in the mule but we didn’t get it…. But what do we do now?
It is important that everyone gets that the fight for land ownership, property rights, equality, freedom, and fairness has been an ongoing fight for African Americans. In a fight for freedom and for housing, it seems to me we can’t get anything done without federal intervention. We can’t just depend on people to do the right thing, especially toward African Americans and the fight continues. Out of Ray’s membership and involvement with the National Association of Real Estate Brokers he formed The NID - the hud counseling agency.
THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REAL ESTATE BROKERS, INVESTMENT DIVISION (NID HOUSING)
The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Investment Division (NID Housing) began with Tom Holmes- the NAREB President from 1985 to 87 when he created the five of the NAREB affiliate divisions and the idea behind it was fairly simple yet futuristic. He asked Ray to take over the NID affiliate which at the time according to Mr. Carlisle was confusing.
Tom saw what an asset Carlisle would be to the NID given his experience which he drew from the fact that Mr. Carlisle had been an investor in real estate- his father before him was also an investor and therefore he was the right man for this job. In addition, growing up at a time when discrimination was rampant and still managed to create a lot of wealth through real estate is also a contributing factor to why Tom chose Ray as the person for the job.
Ray recounts, “and he (Tom) said realtors need to understand how you did that. I actually thought that all of them, because they had a real estate license, realized that that was a natural transition to own real estate yourself; how are you going to sell somebody’s property and you don’t own any yourself? are you going to preach wealth when you haven’t demonstrated that the possibilities of increasing wealth even in a discriminatory environment was a lucrative opportunity?.... and so I kind of answered my own question to him.”
Tom Holmes would later go on to do some amazing partnerships with Fannie Mae and The Department of Housing and Urban Development which he asked Ray to manage. But, they would later discover that none of these government institutions wanted to work with NAREB as in the earlier days of its formation, NAREB had positioned itself as a politically active organization like most other black organizations and not as an economic development organization.
“We were more advocates than we were real policy developers for civil rights. certainly, the policy development
for self-sustaining and self-sufficient, selfgenerated economic growth and that’s the premise that NID was founded on and also on backgrounds like mine and many of my colleagues. Many of my peers like Tom Holmes and Evan Reeves and I could name a hundred others. Those are the people that I met there that’s why I knew what Tom was talking about was doable.”
Ray soon realized that they faced one unique problem in actualizing the dream of NID and that was Black people, and it’s not just Black people but most people don’t really have a history or background of working together because of the mentality that, “if I put my expertise in here what am I going to get?” Also, there is this phenomenon that once what you’re working on is successful, everyone wants to be the boss. These were unique problems that needed to be addressed almost immediately.
So, now the question was, “what can we create that can bring these disparate desires together and continue in that phrase of working together?” This thinking was what put NID in the right frame of mind because most of the time people complain that they need affirmative action and the need to be integrated to get opportunities. That’s a true thing. Not everyone has equal access and or opportunities and having one doesn’t necessarily mean having the other.
“When I think about the opportunities we do have as blacks, we can do things just like they did in Tulsa and several other communities we have in our urban areas in Harlem, in San Francisco and Oakland, auburn street and Georgia you go all over the country we always have successful business districts. it’s not new but what we did have, we had a community that was forced to do business with each other because you couldn’t do business outside of that community.”
It is true that humans fear what they do not understand and the concept of collective investment has always been foreign to most. This is one of the biggest challenges that Ray Faced. Ideally, when you talk about collective investment, many people think that they will give somebody else their money to manage it but in reality, collective investment means taking care of your business and that business complements another business in your community.
According to Ray, when a person happens to be successful in their respective communities, the only way they can grow their business is if there are other successful businesses and business people in that community, and that way they collaborate to nurture their businesses. An investment in your community means nurturing those new and old businesses. This is the idea behind NID- collective investment in that sense.
“...the three most successful businesses that we don’t talk a lot about are our cash flow businesses - these are barbershops, beauty shops, churches, and funeral homes. Nobody really knows how much money they make so let us look at that and let us monetize them. The NID monetizes every community we know that that community has equity.”
If a community is faced with redlining or discriminatory policies, NID comes in and invests in that community by organizing and showing members of this community their equity and how to build and sustain it. Over the years, NAREB has been so instrumental in creating policies to format such discriminatory practices. For instance, the rewriting of the HUD 203K program. When this program was originally written in 89 to 91, it included stripped commercial properties. The Department of Housing and
Urban Development which HUD cannot insure a commercial loan but people can borrow money to do the framework and the underground. The NID comes in, looks at the equity in the community, and advises the residents on how to make their communities and neighborhoods desirable places.
“…your location is your equity, your equity is your money and your money is your power!”
NID THEN, NOW, AND IN FUTURE
NID Mission is simple, “The development and promotion of policies and programs that foster sustainable economic and social growth and well-being for Realtist members and the clients and communities they traditionally serve”.
NID has and continues to successfully work with federal and state lawmakers and government agencies, major financial services corporations, and national major trade and civil rights advocacy groups in the furtherance of its urban and rural areas’ social and economic development mission. NID was the longest-serving Technical Assistance Advisor to the FIDC Resolution Trust Affordable Housing Program (199196) and continuous advisor since its founding to HUD/FHA, the GSE, Office of Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury, Transportation, and Justice Departments, and key legislative committees on fair and affordable housing and community development issues.
The NID Housing Counseling Agency (NID-HCA) is a separate and independent IRS 501-c-3 public benefit organization and is one of the largest and most respected HUD Approved National Housing Counseling Intermediary Organizations in the HUD program with an approved activity of Community Development.
INTRODUCTION
CAL-ALHFA (California Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies) was established in 1989 to represent local housing agencies and professionals in the California State Legislature and State housing programs. We also work on housing issues at the federal level. CAL-ALHFA is a non-profit organization with a broad-based membership including public and private agencies that develop, finance, and administer programs to create affordable housing in California. Our core membership is small and medium sized local agencies that have to follow state mandates, but often lack the personnel and financial resources to do so.
PURPOSE
From the beginning, the founders of CAL-ALHFA felt that local government agencies interested in affordable housing matters needed better representation at the state level because their concerns were often not addressed in the development of single family and multifamily housing programs and policies.
The purpose of CAL-ALHFA is to provide that representation, based on input from all our members, including our lenders, investors, developers, and consultants. It includes participation in the California State Legislature’s legislative process and participation in program and policy development in all the State’s affordable housing agencies.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
▪ Legislative Advocacy. Sponsoring, supporting (or opposing), and tracking housing legislation including fair housing; bond financing; state program development and administration; relocation; land use law, including planning and zoning; housing element law; and other legislation which affects affordable housing development.
Program Advocacy. Tracking program developments in CalHFA, HCD, the Tax Credit
Program, and the Debt Limit Allocation Program. Assisting in the development of program policies and procedures. ▪ Education. Sponsoring webinars, conferences, symposia, and workshops to provide information on new developments in the field of affordable housing.
▪ Newsletters and Legislative Alerts. Preparing and distributing regular newsletters and as-needed legislative alerts to inform members of current activities. ▪ Individual Member Services. Providing advocacy and advice on district or agency matters as requested. ▪ Professional Networking. Providing a forum for industry activists to share ideas, information, and expertise with their colleagues.
RECENT ACTIVITIES
Return to the Capitol – April 2022
For the first time since 2020, advocates can attend legislative hearings in person, and testify on bills of interest to the affordable housing community.
We can now meet our colleagues face-to-face on an impromptu basis. In other words, we now have a lobby in which we can do our work as lobbyists.
Middle Income Housing Webinar – November 2021
Bond Purchase of existing market rate multifamily housing and converting them to lower rent middle income (workforce) housing.
Presentations included:
Discussion of the pros and cons of this program Examples of successful conversions Potential legislation needed.*
*AB1850 – Ward. Establishes minimum standard for JPA acquisitions and is currently moving through the legislature. CAL-ALHFA is a supporter of this bill, which was at least partially written on the recommendations that came from this webinar.
Single Family Symposium – October 2021
Discussions included:
Increasing Minority Homeownership with a presentation by The Power Is Now Innovators in Down Payment Assistance Rural Broadband Expansion Closed Loop Pump Storage – Wildfire / PSPS Prevention
CAL-ALHFA Annual Meeting – October 2021
Keynote Speaker – Senator Scott Weiner
Discussions Included:
State Programs Update Legislative Update
UPCOMING
Density Bonus Webinar – May 18, 2022
Following a presentation by leading density bonus expert Jon Goetz, two cities, the City of Pasadena and the city of San Jose will describe how they developed their density bonus ordinances and how they administer them.
Cosponsored by The Power Is Now, the Symposium will cover all aspects of minority home ownership programs, updates on Fair Housing activities, and presentations by state, regional and local homeownership programs.
CAL-ALHFA’s Annual Meeting summarizes the major events of the year in Sacramento, and features key State legislators, Senior Staff from all major housing agencies, and a discussion of future legislative actions, presented by the Chief Consultants of the Senate and Assembly Housing Committees
