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A Look Back at Julian Castro’s HUD Tenure

DSFormer Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro has dropped his presidential campaign, the New York Times reports. Castro served as 16th HUD Secretary from 2014 to 2017.

“I’ve determined that it simply isn’t our time,” Castro said in a video. [1]“Today it’s with a heavy heart, and profound gratitude, that I will suspend my campaign for president.”

During his time as HUD Secretary, Castro sat down with Five Star Institute [2] President and CEO Ed Delgado to discuss the industry's pressing issues, including the blight left by abandoned properties.

Delgado asked Castro to consider opening up a dialogue with the servicing industry to talk about vacant and abandoned properties.

“I have a decent perspective on what you’re talking about, because I used to be a city councilman and then the mayor (of San Antonio),” Castro told Delgado. “So we saw it not just from an individual perspective, but from the perspective that concerns neighborhood associations and community associations and folks that have to deal with the impact of vacant houses on their block, and what it does to everyone and not just the individual.”

While Secretary of HUD, Castro focused his efforts on stabilizing the post-Recession market; helping homeowners who lost their properties in Hurricane Sandy, floods, and other natural disasters; and giving public-housing residents access to high-speed internet through the ConnectHome program.

During Castro’s tenure, HUD also worked with the Department of Justice and 49 state attorneys general to protect homeowners from mortgage fraud during the financial crisis. The result was a $25 billion agreement in 2012 with the country’s five largest lenders, providing relief to millions of homeowners across the country.