HUD

WASHINGTON, DC - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development today awarded nearly $127 million in grants to 48 local projects to conduct a wide range of activities intended to protect children and families from potentially dangerous lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards (see chart below)

WASHINGTON, DC - January 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today a joint partnership between the two agencies to help nearly 1,000 non-elderly Americans with disabilities leave nursing homes or other healthcare facilities to live independently. This is the first time two federal agencies are offering a combination of rental assistance, health care and other supportive services targeted to this population.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Marin County, California today announced an agreement to promote access and overcome barriers to affordable housing for minorities and persons with disabilities throughout the County. A recent HUD review disclosed that Marin County had failed to meet its Fair Housing obligations in its use and expenditure of HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that more than 3,800 children are safe from dangerous lead-based paint hazards and other health and safety risks due to grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In an effort to help families find decent housing and to prevent future foreclosures, the Obama Administration today announced nearly $73 million in housing counseling grants to more than 500 national, regional and local organizations. As a result of the funding announced today, hundreds of thousands of households will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep the homes they have because of the housing counseling and counseling training grants awarded today by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the December edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard. The latest housing figures show continued home affordability in the housing market, with interest rates near record lows, but the market remains fragile, as prices are unsettled. Foreclosure starts and completions dropped significantly in November, as lenders review internal servicing procedures. The housing scorecard is a comprehensive report on the nation's housing market.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (EHOC), and First National Bank of St. Louis today announced an agreement that will increase the bank's commitment to minority and low-income communities.? As part of the agreement, the bank will invest more than $2.5 million over four years in St. Louis City, North St. Louis County, and St. Clair County, Illinois.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 14, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Administration’s Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) today announced that it is permanently withdrawing FHA approval of Cambridge Home Capital, LLC (CHC), a Great Neck, New York-based lender. In addition, the MRB will seek a monetary penalty of $182,000.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it is launching multiple investigations into the practices of certain mortgage lenders to determine if their home loan policies illegally deny qualified African American and Latino borrowers access to credit.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to the Coquille Valley Hospital District in Coquille, Oregon. The $22 million loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to the Effingham County Hospital Authority in Springfield, Georgia. The $31 million loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) will reinstate a Native American family’s rental assistance under a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that settles allegations that?SFHA employees said they did not work with Indian tribes and refused to accept the family’s tribal documents.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- All across the country, there are environmentally challenged areas called ‘brownfields,’ contaminated properties that often require substantial cleanup before they can be reused for another purposes. In the latest issue of Cityscape, an independent journal published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, several scholars are calling for new policies and approaches that could significantly accelerate stalled brownfield redevelopment.

CINCINNATI, OH - December 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced two settlements against landlords for failing to inform tenants that their homes may contain potentially dangerous lead. The agreements require the landlords to replace windows and cleanup lead-based paint hazards in 31 residential properties containing a total of 294 units (see attached list). In addition to the $480,000 worth of lead abatement work being performed, the landlords also agree to pay civil penalties totalling $12,500.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that homelessness for 750,000 Americans was prevented or ended, thanks to HUD’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP), funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program provided $1.5 billion to local communities to keep families in their homes or help them find other affordable housing after a sudden financial crisis, which might have otherwise led to homelessness.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that $25 million in grants is available to help rural and tribal communities struggling to address distressed housing conditions and concentrated poverty. In a speech to the Housing Assistance Council in Washington, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said HUD’s new

WASHINGTON, DC - November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today unveiled a new website that consolidates a wide variety of economic and housing market data at the regional, state, metropolitan area and county levels. Using data from the Census Bureau, Labor Department, State and Local governments, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own field economists, the new website employs interactive maps that allow visitors to access a variety of reports – from a region-wide look at employment and housing activity to individual county-level figures on population trends, rental activity and vacancy rates.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- At a Middle Class Task Force event today, co-hosted by the Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative, Vice President Biden announced a series of steps designed to help middle class and low-income families secure their legal rights. These actions include strengthening foreclosure mediation programs, helping veterans secure the legal help they need, and making it easier for workers to find a qualified attorney when they believe their rights have been violated.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the November edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard (www.hud.gov/scorecard). The latest housing figures show continued signs of stabilization in house prices and high home affordability due in part to record low mortgage interest rates. The housing scorecard is a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market

Biloxi, MS - November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U. S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour today announced the approval of a $132 million disaster recovery plan proposed by the State of Mississippi that will direct federal funding to Hurricane Katrina housing recovery in southern Mississippi. Primarily funded through HUD supplemental disaster recovery Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, the program supports the long-term recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The plan includes a new Neighborhood Home program that will repair low-and-moderate-income homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina and assist qualified low-and-moderate-income families to occupy Mississippi Cottages and find rental housing.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today released its annual report to Congress on the financial status of its Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund, FHA’s principal insurance account that includes all single-family and reverse mortgage activity. FHA’s study finds that since last year, the capital reserve ratio held steady, insurance claims declined significantly, and the economic value of FHA’s single-family insurance program grew by more than $1 billion, from $3.6 billion in 2009 to $4.7 billion in 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a new pilot program that will offer credit-worthy borrowers low-cost loans to make energy-saving improvements to their homes. Backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), these new FHA PowerSaver loans will offer homeowners up to $25,000 to make energy-efficient improvements of their choice, including the installation of insulation, duct sealing, doors and windows, HVAC systems, water heaters, solar panels, and geothermal systems.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to four counties and one tribal area in South Dakota and provide support to ho...

WASHINGTON, DC - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Especially in today’s housing market, the prospect of buying a home can seem overwhelming for many Americans who may not be aware of how to begin the process of shopping for a home or even a mortgage. To help consumers navigate this process, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) today unveiled three how-to videos to help prospective homeowners find a home they can afford, shop for a mortgage they can sustain, and what to expect when they go to closing.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today new, stronger affordable housing regulations that protect victims of domestic abuse as the nation concludes National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

WASHINGTON, DC - October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to nine counties in Wisconsin and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following severe storms and flooding last month

WASHINGTON, DC - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that it has charged Sharlene and Jerald Kuiper, managers of a three-bedroom duplex apartment in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, and the owner of the apartment, Kuiper Family Trust, with violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to show an available apartment to a family with children. HUD’s charge alleges that the Kuipers falsely asserted that the unit was unavailable for viewing when it was, offered to show units only after families without children rejected them, and made discriminatory statements demonstrating a preference for renters without children.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today at the National Press Club, administration officials highlighted recent grants released by the Partnership for Sustainable Communities to support more livable and sustainable communities across the country. The Partnership - which consists of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - builds economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, transportation, and more. Last week, agencies began releasing local grants to support sustainable living nationwide. The combined sum of the agencies’ grants is $409.5 million.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In an unprecedented collaboration between two federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today jointly awarded nearly $68 million to help stimulate a new generation of sustainable and livable communities that connect housing, employment and economic development with transportation and other infrastructure improvements. The joint HUD-DOT funding will support 62 local and regional partnerships seeking to create a more holistic and integrated approach to connecting affordable housing, job opportunities and transportation corridors.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that it is charging Vicksburg, Mississippi, rental property owner Richard Cowart and his property manager, Janie Kelly, with violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to renew the lease of a white tenant at Shamrock Apartments because the tenant associated with African Americans and has a biracial daughter. The HUD charge also alleges the property manager made discriminatory statements about renting to African Americans and tenants associating with African Americans.