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 foreclosures
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 moreNSP1-A Deadline Looms
August 30, 2010 1 Comment
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 moreRich are defaulting on mortgages at a higher rate
July 9, 2010 1 Comment
While lots of criticism from some TV commentators has been heaped on lower-income homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure, it’s now the rich who are defaulting more frequently on their mortgage loans. The New York Times reports today that more than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are […]
Read more10 percent of Texans are behind in their home loan payments
November 24, 2009 Comments Off
Each one of the yellow squares represents a judicial mandated sale of property in San Antonio and Bexar County. Scary, huh? You can see the map live on the Bexar County Clerk’s website. In a related story, the Dallas Morning News reported this week that almost 10 percent of Texans were behind in their home loan […]
Read moreI want to believe the President’s financial consumer protection plan will work, but it won’t
June 20, 2009 Comments Off
President Obama adopted a fighting stance against the financial services industry today in his weekly radio address. He promised that his proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) would protect Americans by banning unfair practices and enforcing strong new consumer protections. I want to believe. But having studied the details of the president’s plan for financial […]
Read moreThe struggle begins to successfully design a TX Neighborhood Stabilization Program
March 5, 2009 Comments Off
I have previously expressed concerns about how the new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) can be successfully implemented. I attended a public hearing last Friday in which officials of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) explained their proposed rules for how the program would be carried out. The NSP program is an attempt […]
Read moreRough outlines of Texas $178m Neighborhood Stabilization Program emerge
November 11, 2008 2 Comments
In an attempt to deal with the foreclosure crisis Congress has allocated substantial funding to cities, counties and states to buy up for close to an abandoned properties to prevent them from further depressing property values and causing neighborhoods to deteriorate. We will soon learn whether cities, counties and the state of Texas can successfully […]
Read moreNew report profiles loan delinquencies and foreclosures in Texas cities
October 29, 2008 Comments Off
A collaboration between LISC and the Urban Institute has produced a data set with “foreclosure needs scores” within Community Development Block Grant jurisdictions within each state. These scores incorporate measures of subprime lending, foreclosures, delinquency, and vacancies to help state and local officials quickly assess the relative needs of different jurisdictions for neighborhood stabilization funding. […]
Read moreWe endorse Texas Attorney General Abbott’s call for mortgage deferment legislation to help struggling homeowners
October 24, 2008 Comments Off
The Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (TxLIHIS) applauds and endorses Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s proposal today for a legislative initiative aimed at improving the state’s foreclosure process and helping Texas homeowners stay in their homes. The attorney general asked the Texas Legislature to enact the Texas Foreclosure Deferment Act. Under the proposed Act, […]
Read moreMy recommendations for dealing with the low-income homeownership problems in Texas
October 9, 2008 Comments Off
I was invited to testify today before the Texas Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee on the status of state programs to provide owner-occupied housing for low income families. Here is my testimony. Testimony of John Henneberger, co-director before the Texas Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee on the committee interim housing charges October 8, 2008 On the behalf […]
Read moreThe foreclosure resistant low income mortgage loan
September 21, 2008 Comments Off
The $700 billion bailout of Wall Street brought about by the subprime/ predatory mortgage debacle points out that there needs to be a better, safer and cheaper alternative mortgage for lower income families buying a home. Such a loan needs to be affordable and needs to be able to be adjusted based on the borrower’s […]
Read morePlight of renters unaddressed in foreclosure crisis
August 23, 2008 Comments Off
While the country focuses on the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure, the plight of renters forced to move due to foreclosure has received too little attention. Under Texas law a tenant can be forced to move out of a foreclosed property after the foreclosure agent provides them a mere 30 days notice. If a family […]
Read moreQuestions, answers, concerns about the new $4 billion foreclosed homes program in Texas
July 28, 2008 2 Comments
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 moreNonprofit FHA downpayment assistance scheme nets 19% Texas defaults
July 5, 2008 Comments Off
I’m sorry if this makes me sound like an affordable housing hertic but this bothers me. NPR reports there are nonprofits out there that are serving as middle men (for a fee) between home sellers who want to pay a buyer’s three percent downpayment on an FHA loan and buyers who can’t come up with […]
Read moreOne perspective on the Texas foreclosure crisis
June 15, 2008 Comments Off
View Dr. James Gaines presentation [it takes a couple minutes to begin playing] before the Texas House financial institutions committee on Texas home foreclosure data. View the slides from his PowerPoint presentation. Dr. James Gaines a research economist at Texas A&M’s Real Estate Center presented some interesting data in to the Texas House Financial Institutions […]
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