Reporter Karisa King’s full Texas housing story is out in the San Antonio Express News. It is a devastating expose of the Texas Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. $9.7 billion in federal funds have been spent by the State of Texas that has on balance enhanced racial and ethnic segregation through the State’s administration [...]
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Low-Income Housing Program Compels Building in Poor Texas Areas – NYTimes.com
April 21, 2012
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Karisa King of the San Antonio Epress News has an incredibly researched and very disturbing story in Sunday’s New York Times and Texas Tribune. The interactive maps are stunning at: http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/tax-credit-housing-locations/ Plans to build a low-income apartment complex for seniors in one of San Antonio’s most fashionable neighborhoods had been posted for barely a week in [...]
Read more Coalition of conservative activists’ calls for consolidation of TDHCA and TSAHC
March 21, 2012
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In a reprise of a plan decisively rejected by the Texas Legislature last session, a coalition of conservative public policy advocacy and lobby groups, including the Texas Tea Party is once again calling for consolidation of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs with the nonprofit corporation, the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC). [...]
Read moreCourt rules Texas Housing Tax Credit program violates Fair Housing Act
March 20, 2012
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This morning a federal court ruled in a case filed by a Dallas fair housing organization that the way the State of Texas administers the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program has a disparate racial impact, violating §§ 3604(a) and 3605(a) of the Fair Housing Act (Civil Rights Act of 1968). Judge Sidney Fitzwater, chief judge of the Federal [...]
Read more Brian Potashnik to restart work outside TX new court filing says | dallasnews.com Crime Blog
March 19, 2012
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Dallas Morning News reporter Jason Trahan has blogged that a Texas low income housing tax credit developer at the center of the FBI sting that sent Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill to federal prison has petitioned the judge that he be allowed to travel to europe to engage in neighborhood redevelopment projects in Israel [...]
Read moreAustin American-Statesman: State should ask HNTB for a refund
March 15, 2012
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The following editorial is from an editorial in today’s Austin-American Statesman. A state disaster relief contract has itself been declared a disaster by federal auditors who recommend that Texas repay $9 million in overcharges collected by HNTB to administer disaster relief grants. Federal auditors found instances of overbilling by the company and poor oversight by [...]
Read more State report: 29% of TX first round HUD disaster funds drawn down, 0% 2nd round
March 14, 2012
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Recent stories in the Austin American-Statesman, the Texas Tribune and the New York Times have chronicled the slow pace of the Texas Hurricane Ike and Dolly disaster recovery program using federal funds. Let’s step back and look at a snapshot of the state’s entire disaster recovery effort to get some perspective. Here are the numbers [...]
Read more Latest data shows TX minimum wage earners can’t afford half the rent on a typical apartment
March 13, 2012
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According to a national report released today, the Housing Wage for Texas is $15.88. The Housing Wage is the hourly wage a family must earn – working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year – to be able to afford the rent and utilities for a safe and modest home in the private housing [...]
Read moreCandidate for most outrageous quote of 2012: HNTB says Texas disaster recovery program is “on target and on budget”
March 11, 2012
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Austin American Statesman reporter Brenda Bell has an amazing quote from HNTB in her story today about the HUD audit of the State of Texas Hurricane Ike and Dolly disaster recovery program. The HUD audit found that Texas improperly contracted with the engineering firm HNTB to manage hundreds of millions of dollars worth of hurricane recovery [...]
Read moreFederal Audit Questions $8 Million Paid to HNTB — General Land Office | The Texas Tribune
March 10, 2012
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In the second article in as many days, Texas Tribune reporter Becca Aaronson has disclosed a HUD inspector general’s report that says the State of Texas’ Ike-Dolly disaster recovery program, which is funded by the federal government, is facing a potential $8 million repayment of inflated fees paid to the private contractor hired by the [...]
Read moreAmid Finger-Pointing, Hurricane Relief for Texans Lags – NYTimes.com
March 9, 2012
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The NYT ran a story written by Texas Tribune reporter Becca Aaronson on the state of disaster recovery in Texas… Nearly four years after Hurricanes Ike and Dolly wreaked havoc on the Texas coast, thousands of Texans are still waiting for housing assistance. The long-term disaster recovery effort financed by the federal government has made little [...]
Read more More Texas kids live in concentrated poverty than in any other state
February 23, 2012
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What does it mean to a child to grow up in a neighborhood where poverty is concentrated? That is a question that Texas children are uniquely able to answer. More Texas children live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty that any other state – 1,120,000 Texas children according to a report issued today by the Annie [...]
Read more New Texas state housing agency director discusses reorganization, relying on fewer, larger contractors
February 22, 2012
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Tim Irvine, named executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs just a couple of months ago, announced at last week’s board meeting a major staff reorganization and a new relationship with housing providers. Irvine announced the department will seek to work with larger, more administratively capable contractors to carry out the [...]
Read more $141M in Texas foreclosure settlement funds should be used to prevent more foreclosures
February 20, 2012
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The Obama Administration and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced last week a $26 billion foreclosure settlement between the five biggest banks and federal and state officials. I’m not taking a position on the merits of the settlement. I am worried about how the State of Texas will spend the funds it receives. Part of the [...]
Read more HUD plays Grinch with its poorest tenants
February 17, 2012
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A single mother with two children in Texas is potentially eligible to receive $260 per month from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). She might be able to get Food Stamps to help feed the kids. But the $260 per month has to cover the other living expenses. There is basically no option except to [...]
Read more In Texas state government the tail wags the dog in affordable housing policy
February 16, 2012
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A citizen might expect the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) Board of Directors to spend most of their time developing an effective state housing policy or working to make sure the State uses the funds wisely to help house the poor. Citizens would be wrong. The TDHCA board has for years spent [...]
Read moreThe Texas affordable housing problem made simple
February 16, 2012
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The Texas affordable housing problem in three sentences: 1) The poorest Texans have the hardest time finding housing they can afford. 2) The poorest Texans pay way too much for housing than they can afford. 3) Texas government spends most of the funds it has to build housing that is not affordable to the poor [...]
Read more New study shows 3 in 4 poor Texas families spend more than half of income for rent
February 15, 2012
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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 [...]
Read more Hurricane Ike and Dolly home reconstruction drags on at unacceptable rates
February 13, 2012
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According to a State of Texas report covering the period through January 31 2012, only 38 percent of houses destroyed by Hurricanes Ike and Dolly and contracted to be repaired by local governments have been completed. A second, far larger round of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funded home repair contracts are expected to [...]
Read more Dallas fumbles in the absence of a housing policy
January 18, 2012
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Housing segregation is a problem most Texas communities struggle with. Crippled by a lack of political courage and leadership no city seems to struggle more than Dallas, often with serious consequences. The Dallas Morning News (DMN) ran a front page story Sunday about a dispute between the backers of two proposed Low Income Housing Tax [...]
Read more Fewer than 500 Texas homes repaired in three years since Hurricane Ike
September 15, 2011
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Official figures from the State of Texas show that fewer than 500 homes have been repaired or rebuilt under the State of Texas Hurricane Ike/Dolly disaster recovery program as of this week, the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Ike. A minimum of $1.7 billion in available federal funds provided to the state are aside for housing [...]
Read more Protesters say city slow to repair Ike-damaged houses – Houston Chronicle
September 13, 2011
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Bearing photos of homes that still have blue tarps on the roofs, more than 100 protesters held a rally at City Hall on the third anniversary of Hurricane Ike on Tuesday and pleaded with the City Council to accelerate its repair program. “I’m tired of the city telling me to be patient,” said Elvis Malveaux at [...]
Read more Three Years After Ike, Many Still Await Assistance | Public News Service
September 13, 2011
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AUSTIN, Texas – Today marks the third anniversary of Hurricane Ike, and many low-income Texans, particularly in the Houston area, have yet to recover from its devastation. Hundreds of affected residents plan to converge on City Hall today, carrying symbolic blue tarps and photos of unrepaired homes, charging that the city has neglected them while [...]
Read more September 13, 2011 is the three year anniversary of Hurricane Ike
September 12, 2011
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Please take a few moments to consider the plight of the tens of thousands of elderly and disabled Texans who are still waiting for help to repair their homes. Some tell their stories in this video produced a year ago for TxLIHIS by former staffer Melissa Cha. The people in the video are still waiting [...]
Read more Houston experiences largest growth of poor population in American metros
August 5, 2011
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Other central cities that saw populations of the poor soar between 2000 and 2007 included Dallas, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Columbus, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso. These are the observations of Rolf Pendall, PhD, Director of the Metropolitan Housing & Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute, writing in the blog MetroTrends. The biggest single [...]
Read more Texas border building codes: a mostly meaningless and bizarre law
August 3, 2011
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I have been looking into the powers that border counties have to enforce health and safety standards through requiring building permits and inspections of residential homes. In Subchapter F, of Chapter 233 of the Government Code, the Texas Legislature enacted what mist be one of the most meaningless and bazaar construction requirements to be found [...]
Read more Why are mortgage closing costs in Texas the second highest in the US?
July 22, 2011
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A Bankrate.com survey of home mortgage closing costs finds Texas has the second highest closing costs among the states. New York state has the highest. Researchers requested a good faith estimate for a $200,000 loan, assuming a 20 percent down payment and good credit. The result in Texas was origination fees of $1,951 and title and closing [...]
Read more Where Texas border housing and community development issues stand after the legislative session
July 17, 2011
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Earlier this week I spoke to the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders about developments during the last session of the Texas Legislature that impacted colonias. These are my prepared remarks. The situation faced by those of us who work on affordable housing and community development issues along the Texas Mexico border can be [...]
Read more HUD pointedly directs Galveston to rebuild its public housing
July 15, 2011
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In an unusual joint letter to Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, three top HUD leaders told Galveston to move forward to rebuild public housing destroyed by Hurricane Ike or face the loss of federal funding. The July 13, 2011 letter was signed by Mercedes Marquez, HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, John Trasvina, HUD Assistant Secretary for [...]
Read more TX Tribune story may lead to a misdiagnosis of colonia conditions and health problems
July 10, 2011
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The second of a two-part Texas Tribune story on the colonias that ran today on the Tribune’s website and in the New York Times has me worried. Reporter Emily Ramshaw illuminates the terrible health problems faced by colonia residents. Unfortunately, the story also is likely to leave many in the dark. The story does not make [...]
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- Mitt Romney at private fundraiser: I might eliminate HUD – The Washington Post
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Bo’s housing news clips: Study finds zoning segregates lower-income students in lower-scoring schools.
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Texas LIHTC housing program rocked by second earthquake in two months
- Low-Income Housing Program Compels Building in Poor Texas Areas – NYTimes.com
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Bo’s housing news clips: National home foreclosures and Galveston housing woes are top stories in recent weeks
