Brace yourself for more bad news about the crisis in affordable rental housing for the poor in Texas. This study shows Texas 7th worst among the 50 states in availability of affordable rental housing for extremely low income households. As a result more than 3 in 4 of the poorest families in Texas pay more […]
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New study shows 3 in 4 poor Texas families spend more than half of income for rent
February 15, 2012 
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President Obama proposes $1B for National Housing Trust Fund
February 1, 2012 Comments Off
The White House this morning released details of President Obama’s, “Plan to Help Responsible Homeowners and Heal the Housing Market.” Included in the plan is notice that the Administration will request $1 billion in the budget to fund the National Housing Trust Fund. The White House press release says… … the Budget will provide $1 […]
Read more Department of Justice sues local government for multifamily housing ban
February 1, 2012 1 Comment
The Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit against St. Bernard Parish, La., alleging that the parish violated the Fair Housing Act by limiting rental housing opportunities for African-Americans in the parish. This is the latest in a series of enforcement actions taken against local governments that sought to block the construction of affordable housing […]
Read more Loren Berlin, former TxLIHIS staffer, named housing reporter at Huffington Post
January 6, 2012 Comments Off
Loren Berlin, who formerly worked at TxLIHIS on the Housing Texas campaign, tells us she has been named the housing market reporter at the Huffington Post. You can follow Lauren’s reporting on Twitter. Those who remember Loren will recall that she is very gifted. We look forward to her future contributions toward improving housing policy […]
Read more Housing coalition responds to House committee vote to repeal National Housing Trust Fund
August 4, 2011 Comments Off
Earlier I posted the audio of the July 12 House committee hearing on repeal of the National Housing Trust Fund. In the course of the debate before the committee a number of arguments were raised against the National Housing Trust Fund that were strongly disputed by defenders of the trust fund. On Tuesday the National […]
Read more The budget cap deal means the opportunity to address poverty is slipping away
August 2, 2011 2 Comments
On the debt ceiling deal I’m no expert, but like everyone I have a personal opinion. My focus is on the economic condition of the poor in this country and improving the quality and affordability of their homes and neighborhoods, I fear that domestic discretionary spending cuts mandated in the debt ceiling deal will disproportionately […]
Read more Recession and falling housing values dramatically widening wealth gap between whites, Hispanics and blacks
August 1, 2011 1 Comment
Most everyone is aware of the long-time “wealth gap” between whites vs. Hispanics and blacks. A new Pew Research Center study demonstrates there has been an alarming increase in this gap since the onset of the Great Recession. The median wealth of white households is now 20 times that of black households and 18 times […]
Read more Mississippi auctions remaining Katrina cottages | Gulfport – SunHerald.com
August 1, 2011 Comments Off
Editors note: Katrina Cottages were an alternative to the much disparaged FEMA trailer. They look more like homes and won somewhat more acceptance in cities than did FEMA trailers. But many communities still rejected them because of their temporary nature. Costing from $30,000 – $52,000 plus moving and set-up costs, the Katrina Cottages ended up […]
Read more HUD withholds county’s federal funds over fair housing plan
July 25, 2011 1 Comment
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is reporting that HUD has rejected Westchester County, NY‘s certification that it is affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH). In doing so, HUD disapproved the County’s FY11 Annual Action Plan to the Consolidated Plan, resulting in a halt to the receipt of more than $7 million in Community Development Block […]
Read more HUD’s Ron Sims discusses something Austin officials will not — homeownership and race
July 21, 2011 Comments Off
For a years I worked with State Representative Eddie Rodriguez (Austin) to help him devise a way to let lower-income families of color maintain a presence in East Austin in the light of escalating property values and taxes. So far the effort has not succeeded. A key problem has been the opposition of a few African-American […]
Read more HUD Secretary Donovan’s letter to PHAs about accepting ex-offenders
July 20, 2011 Comments Off
I commented earlier on HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan‘s letter to public housing authorities asking them to reconsider their policies on admission to public housing by ex-offenders. In my opinion, the letter is carefully constructed to send the proper message. It does not order PHAs to change their policies but reminds local PHAs that they have […]
Read more Preview of new HUD GIS mapping tool shows promise and potential
July 20, 2011 Comments Off
You have to hand it to the CPD staff of HUD. They are doing some really interesting and useful things these days to make HUD funds more effective. For example, HUD officials recently demonstrated the capabilities of a new GIS on-line mapping tool for community groups and government officials in the Rio Grande Valley. It […]
Read more Austin case study: Postdisaster housing policy and low-income survivors
July 19, 2011 Comments Off
Several very smart people from the University of Texas and myself just had a paper published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research entitled, “Looking for Home after Katrina: Postdisaster Housing Policy and Low-Income Survivors”. The authors are TxLIHIS Board member and UT Community and Regional Planning Department faculty member Dr. Elizabeth J. Mueller, […]
Read more USDA offers lame excuses while slashing housing funds for the rural poor
July 18, 2011 1 Comment
US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack either is poorly informed or being disingenuous about cuts the Obama Administration has proposed for rural housing. People living in rural areas are going to suffer big time. I sat down and wrote Secretary Vilsack a letter the other week telling him that his proposed budget cutting the […]
Read more Listening to Congress debate housing is a sobering experience
July 16, 2011 1 Comment
Every now and then it is worth listening in on Congressional debate on housing legislation. Not that it is usually profound or a good way to understand the details of what the legislation would actually do, but it is a way to see how members of Congress frame their arguments to appeal to their constituents. […]
Read moreUS House Subcommittee Votes to Eliminate Housing Trust Fund — Rooflines
July 14, 2011 Comments Off
A House subcommittee voted to stamp out the National Housing Trust Fund this week, signaling a very difficult road ahead for fund advocates. Of course, the fund, a flagship objective of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, has never actually been capitalized, and this latest development could prolong the three-year effort to support the fund—the […]
Read more Poll: Most think government should help homeowners in trouble
June 30, 2011 Comments Off
A new CBS News/ New York Times poll shows: Most Americans think home ownership is an important part of the American dream. About one-quarter thinks no one should receive subsidized home loans; one-quarter think everyone should; and another quarter thinks only low-income people should qualify. 45 percent would like to see government do more improving […]
Read more Doggett on Foreclosures-“Well, the market didn’t really work, did it?”
June 27, 2011 1 Comment
Quote of the Day- “Well, the market didn’t really work, did it? And why should we be so wedded to it now? If we can back up a little, are we going to blame this whole mess on a guy who lied on his loan application? Really? Have you all been duped that much that […]
Read more The racism of New Berlin is growing in Galveston
June 25, 2011 9 Comments
We noted yesterday the United States Department of Justice brought suit alleging the City of New Berlin, Wisconsin had violated the Fair Housing Act by denying a developer permission to build a mixed senior, family development financed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). I just read the Justice Department’s compliant in the case. The same […]
Read more Feds Sue Wisconsin town for NIMBY Opposition to LIHTC Development
June 24, 2011 1 Comment
Its been a busy week at the Justice Department on the fair housing front. After yesterday’s legal action petitioning to join Disability Rights Texas’s lawsuit against the state for segregating developmentally disabled Texans in nursing homes, the today the DOJ filed suit against a Wisconsin town for opposing a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) […]
Read more Its not just what Fannie Mae did, its also about what it didn’t do
June 20, 2011 Comments Off
Let me first admit that I have not yet read the book but I plan to over the next several weeks. The book is Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. It’s the story of the arrogance that was Fannie Mae before its collapse. David […]
Read more NLIHC Newsletter for Renters, Residents and Tenants
June 16, 2011 Comments Off
National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has just released the second issue of Tenant Talk, a newsletter for low income renters, residents and tenants, and for anyone who cares about issues that affect the lives of low income people. Tenant Talk provides information on actions the federal government is taking on issues related to housing […]
Read more NLIHC: Out of Reach 2011 report updated
June 14, 2011 Comments Off
NLIHC’s annual report, Out of Reach 2011, a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, metropolitan area, combined non-metropolitan area and state in the United States, is now updated to reflect FY11 Income Limits recently released by HUD. The new income limits are used to set income eligibility requirements for assisted housing. The […]
Read more Sadly, how far we have strayed from this great moral course
June 11, 2011 Comments Off
We built this Nation to serve its people. We do not intend to live in the midst of abundance, isolated from neighbors and nature, confined by blighted cities and bleak suburbs, stunted by a poverty of learning and an emptiness of leisure. The Great Society asks not how much, but how good; not only how […]
Read more Low-income Americans will need to work into their eighties
June 11, 2011 1 Comment
Only by retiring at 75 years old would a majority of Americans in the lowest income quartile — defined as earning below $11,700 annually – have half a chance of not running out of money during retirement, a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute finds.
Read more Congressional Hearings on HOME program
June 3, 2011 Comments Off
The Congressional House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing this morning on the HOME program, recently the focus of a Washington Post article previously discussed here at Texas Housers. The prepared testimony of HUD Asst. Sec. Márquez and OIG Asst. IG Heist is embeded after the jump. Additional recent coverage of this issue includes: […]
Read more 60 minutes on Texas Farmworkers
May 25, 2011 Comments Off
Last weekend 60 minutes ran a story on migrant youth farm labor. The story features a Texas family staying in a TDHCA-licensed migrant labor housing facility. In the short online-only ‘extra’ clip below, 60 minutes reporter Byron Pitts is astounded at the fact the family is charged a damage deposit to stay at the facility. […]
Read more Thoughts on the Washington Post Investigation of the HOME Program
May 19, 2011 1 Comment
5/20 update: HUD has posted a more detailed response to the WP article that includes an re-analysis of the entire data set. That response is available here: “Setting the Record Straight: What the Washington Post Got Wrong About the HOME Program” The Washington Post article last weekend that discussed the Beaumont HOME development failure is […]
Read moreWashington Post Focuses on Beaumont Housing Failure
May 16, 2011 1 Comment
Saturday’s Washington Post ran a story on a failed HOME development in Beaumont: BEAUMONT, Tex. — At the dusty intersection of Texas and Elm streets, two partially completed houses sit empty on an unkempt corner lot across from 86-year-old Gardine Grogan’s dilapidated home. Three years ago, a local developer walked off the job without finishing […]
Read moreUpdate:2011 Tornado Season
May 12, 2011 Comments Off
Three weeks ago we had an extensive discussion of the relationship between tornado fatalities and manufactured housing (see Many of These Are Preventable Deaths, 4/28). At that point in time, the National Weather Service had not yet examined the string of tornadoes that blew through the South on that day. The data is still coming in, […]
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