“Priced Out,” a new report by the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) shows the severe housing affordability problems of people with disabilities. According to the report, a person with a disability receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) would have to pay 90% of their monthly income to rent an [...]
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60 minutes on Texas Farmworkers
May 25, 2011
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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 moreMany of These Are Preventable Deaths
April 28, 2011
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“Spalding County reports two fatalities. Officials say the severe storms tore a mobile home from its foundation and tossed it nearly 500 feet. The two victims — a male and a female — were found near the mobile home.” – MyFox Atlanta “One of the hardest hit by overnight storms is Halifax County, where one [...]
Read moreJohn Henneberger Testimony at TDHCA Appropriations Hearing
February 14, 2011
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TxLIHIS co-director John Henneberger testified this morning at the Appropriations Committee Subcommittee Hearing on TDHCA. His testimony, along with that of Sarah Mills of Advocacy Inc., is available below via Youtube.
Read moreBlog Logistics
February 14, 2011
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As most regular readers know, our posting schedule is somewhat erratic here at Texas Housers. If you’d like to get our posts pushed via email, you can sign up for emailed (daily or weekly) digests on the right sidebar.
Read moreHousing: The Newest Utility?
February 9, 2011
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Governor’s office released their budget yesterday. Their proposed solution to the growing family homeless population in Texas? Flatline not only the “Homeless and Housing Services” budget, but eliminate the entire Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The exact proposal: “Consolidate the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and its functions to the Texas State [...]
Read moreHUD’s Worst Case Housing Needs Report for 2009
February 7, 2011
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According to a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of renters facing the worst need for housing increased from 5.91 million to 7.10 million people from 2007 to 2009. About 41% of very low-income renters faced worst case need. These increases cut across racial groups, with 48% of [...]
Read moreReasonable Accommodation Enforcement Action in the News
January 13, 2011
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This blog post is by Elizabeth Nowrouz. According to the Justice Department, a $1.2 million agreement has been reached in a case against an Alabama property management company accused of violating the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants did not allow a tenant with a mobility impairment to move into a ground [...]
Read moreA Picture Worth a Thousand Words
November 30, 2010
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(Image Kerry Smith / AP) The AP reports today: “Storms ripped through central Mississippi [...] Dozens of homes were damaged in the Pines mobile home park,said Sgt. Tom Roberson of the Starkville Police Department.” A secure foundation is key to home safety. Texas should inspect 100% of mobile home installations.
Read moreBo McCarver’s weekly news compilation, 11-16-2010
November 16, 2010
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Tuesday Report, November 16, 2010 Special to the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service Effects of the stagnant economy ripple through public policies as lawmakers contemplate ending tax breaks on mortgage interest while low municipal bond rates shrink funds for affordable housing. Meanwhile, FEMA has extended by a year the deadline for Hurricane Ike victims [...]
Read moreRecap of TDHCA’s QAP Adoption
November 12, 2010
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Last Thursday the board of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) adopted the rules governing the allocation of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC) in 2011. These rules are known as the Qualified Allocation Plan, or QAP. Regular readers may recall we recently posted our comments regarding the Draft QAP [...]
Read moreBo McCarver’s weekly news compilation, 11-10-2010
November 10, 2010
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Special to the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service The federal bailout tab for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continues to grow along with unsold inventory of houses. Shares in the mortgage giants continue to drop in value, though not as fast as last year. Plummeting homes sales in North Texas are treated very different [...]
Read moreBo McCarver’s weekly news compilation, 10-19-2010
October 19, 2010
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Tuesday Report, October 19, 2010 Special to the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service The megabanks resume foreclosures at breakneck speed and gobble up properties as 49 states start investigations into sleazy practices. GMAC, Bank of America and other corporations have not responded to growing criticism and potential lawsuits as their stocks drop. In Texas, [...]
Read moreLawsuit alleging race discrimination in Texas housing tax credit program clears (another) hurdle
September 30, 2010
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The Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas has ruled that the Inclusive Communities Project has legal standing to continue its lawsuit alleging the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) is guilty of racial discrimination in the operation of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. Back in 2008, we discussed [...]
Read moreTwo Documents From The Feds This Week
September 24, 2010
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The Feds released two documents this week that are worth mentioning, at least in passing. First, the Obama Administration’s “housing scorecard” for September. Lots of fun facts in it, but this one is a real humdinger: “Cumulative Foreclosure Completions since April 2009: 1.42 Million.” That’s more housing units than exist in North Dakota, Vermont, Alaska [...]
Read moreMore NSP News
September 9, 2010
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HUD yesterday announced the third round of funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Funding. Texas Grantees received $18 Million: Dallas $2,356,962 Dallas County $1,364,426 Harris County $1,925,917 Hidalgo County $1,716,924 Houston $3,389,035 State Of Texas $7,284,978 Texas Total $18,038,242 Texas’s grants are make it the 10th largest NSP recipent, dwarfed by Florida and California’s [...]
Read moreNSP1-A Deadline Looms
August 30, 2010
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Last week HUD announced the details of their enforcement of the 18-month deadline for obligation of the first round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds (NSP1). NSP1 is a federal program for “the purpose of assisting in the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes,” and was funded through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) [...]
Read moreTexas Prioritizes Sewers and Financial Assistance to For-Profit Businesses over Low Income Housing in CDBG program
July 12, 2010
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The primary objective of this chapter and of the community development program of each grantee under this chapter is the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income. – 42USC5301, the statutory basis for the Community Development [...]
Read moreRecovery Act recipients should report on creation of “local jobs”
April 1, 2010
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The Recovery Act contains a requirement that information about job created or maintained by recovery act be reported on a quarterly basis. The OMB recently solicited comments on ways to “enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information” collected under the act. Today TxLIHIS filed the following comments: The Texas Low Income Housing Information [...]
Read moreDepartment of Energy IG: Recovery Act “has strained existing resources” at the Department
December 11, 2009
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The Inspector General at the Department of Energy[1] released a report Monday warning that the Recovery Act energy funding “represents a massive workload increase for the Department’s programs” and noting that “the effort to date has strained existing resources” at the department. The Department of Energy is administering $32.7 Billion of the Recovery Act, including [...]
Read moreTexas Grow Home dedications this Friday in Port Arthur
November 16, 2009
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Here are the details of the dedication of the first two of four Texas Grow Homes in Port Arthur Friday November 20. A virtual tour will be available on the website starting November 20 at www.texasgrowhome.org in case you cannot get to Port Arthur. Download the Open house flyer.
Read more3 important policy questions for expanded $327m Texas Weatherization Assistance Program
October 26, 2009
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Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in Texas Another housing program expanded by the 2009 Recovery Act was the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). WAP funds local agencies to provide minor home repairs to low-income Texans. These repairs increase the energy efficiency of the housing stock and reduce the heating and cool components of the housing cost. The [...]
Read moreFix the Texas Hurricane Ike and Dolly rebuilding plan
January 7, 2009
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We have posted our comments to the State of Texas regrading the State’s proposed hurricane rebuilding plan. We offer fifteen recommendations to the State of Texas for allocating funds and designing and implementing programs to utilize the $1.3 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to assist in the housing rebuilding efforts for Hurricanes [...]
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