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 [...]
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Tag Archives: Home foreclosure
Thoughts on the Washington Post Investigation of the HOME Program
May 19, 2011
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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 moreEmergency Homeowners Loan Program (EHLP) in Texas
January 6, 2011
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EHLP Program Introduction: The 2010 Financial Reform Bill (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) funds up to $50,000 (or 24 months) of mortgage payment relief for un-or-under employed homeowners facing likely foreclosure. These funds are available through a re-authorized Ford-administration program, the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program (EHLP). Texas was allocated $135.4 million under [...]
Read moreTo protect lenders task force censuring advice given to Texas homeowners facing foreclosure
September 22, 2009
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Texas consumer housing advocate and attorney Robert Doggett is on a tirade. Not against the usual predatory lenders or slumlords but against the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, a group of home lenders, government organizations and non profits providing advice to homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments. These are people who represent themselves [...]
Read moreBrownsville CDC director discusses recent changes in border low-income housing and colonias
June 26, 2009
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Homebuyers buying new houses through a CDC in Brownsville, Texas have an average income of $19,000. Low-income border families, who a decade ago would have bought lots and built homes through their own labor in a colonia, have lately been buying homes from many of the former colonia developers. Lately, these former colonia developers have [...]
Read moreDoggett/Henneberger diavolg on consumer protection legislation for mortgage borrowers in the Texas Legislature
June 24, 2009
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Robert Doggett worked on behalf of TxLIHIS during the past session of the Texas Legislature, One of his main focus areas was trying to gain some reasonable protections for consumers facing mortgage foreclosure. In my first experiment with a diavolg I asked Doggett about what was proposed in the legislative session to deal with consumer [...]
Read moreAddressing low-income families’ housing aspirations is essential to financial reform
June 19, 2009
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You don’t have to work long in the field of affordable housing to find out how strong the desire is among many low income families to own a home. “How to I get a loan to buy a house,” is one of the most frequent questions I get asked. Often the question comes from people [...]
Read moreThe Nouveau Poor foreclosure crisis slights the poor
June 18, 2009
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You can’t help these days being struck by the amount of government and media attention heaped on the plight of people facing home foreclosure. I Googled “housing counseling” to see what advice was available to a low income person about finding subsidized rental housing. I had to search through several pages of listings of home [...]
Read moreSenate Committee explores state role in easing home foreclosure problems
February 21, 2009
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The Texas Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee held the first of what promises to be several hearings to explore the home foreclosure crisis in Texas and the state’s role in addressing the issue. The committee, chaired by Dallas Senator Royce West (D), heard testimony from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Texas [...]
Read moreMortgage crisis imperils new affordable housing developments
December 1, 2008
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The mortgage crisis is really beginning to bite into affordable housing production programs. I just learned of a community development corporation which has completed an affordable housing development that it has been working on for many years only to find out that mortgage financing cannot be obtained to sell the units in the development. With [...]
Read moreAre we encouraging people to buy homes who shouldn’t?
August 8, 2008
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House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank, commenting on the current foreclosure crisis and the importance of the passage of the National Housing Trust Fund, told the Washington Post that, “One of the reasons we got into this situation is that we were pressing people, urging people, encouraging people to buy homes who shouldn’t buy [...]
Read moreQuestions, answers, concerns about the new $4 billion foreclosed homes program in Texas
July 28, 2008
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One of the subprograms of greatest controversy within the major housing legislation passed by Congress on Saturday (HR 3221) is Section 2301, Emergency Assistance For The Redevelopment of Abandoned and Foreclosed Homes. Initially, Present Bush threatened to veto the housing bill over this section. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “The Senate bill would provide [...]
Read moreAn important role for state legislatures in the foreclosure crisis
June 16, 2008
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Financial Institutions Committee Chairman Burt Solomon is reasonable and fair in approaching the issue of state regulation of financial institutions. His comments introducing last week’s hearing on the foreclosure crisis in Texas reflect the careful and conservative approach that many Southern states have taken toward defining the state’s role in addressing the crisis. Listen to [...]
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