April is Fair Housing Month, the time of year for cities to pass resolutions that no one reads solemnly proclaiming their support for fair housing, the time for elementary school art classes to conduct fair housing drawing contests for children, and the month that Franklin the Fair Housing Fox comes out of his closet at […]
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Tag Archives: HUD
HUD Texas Sequester Letter
March 6, 2013 
1 Comment
Below is a copy of the letter from HUD to Texas Governor Rick Perry regarding the impact of the sequester on Federally-funded housing programs in Texas. The bottom line losses: $ 3.4 Million HOME $50.5 Million Tenant Based Rental Assistance $ 4.5 Million Homeless $ 0.9 Million Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS $59.3 Million […]
Read more An important milestone for civil rights: HUD issues final fair housing “disparate impact rule”
February 9, 2013 0 Comments
Years in the making, HUD yesterday issued the final rule on proving “disparate impact” under the Fair Housing Act. The rule is a reaffirmation of the established standard widely used to prove a civil rights violation has occurred when the perpetrator is not caught in an overt act. Let me say first that I am […]
Read more HUD Secretary Donovan discusses fair housing with state housing coalitions
November 16, 2012 Comments Off
At a meeting this week HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan discussed HUD’s approach to fair housing with leaders of state low-income housing coalitions. Secretary Donovan told the state housing coalition leaders, including Chrishelle Palay of TxLIHIS, that HUD will be moving to a regional approach to fair housing. The Secretary said the HUD Sustainable Communities program is […]
Read more Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law – ProPublica
October 29, 2012 1 Comment
Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law – ProPublica. Nikole Hannah-Jones of the news service Pro Publica published a major investigative story today on the failure of HUD to carry out provisions of the Fair Housing Act requiring states, counties and cities to “affirmatively further fair housing” as they spend funds using […]
Read moreMitt Romney at private fundraiser: I might eliminate HUD – The Washington Post
May 1, 2012 Comments Off
The Washington Post reports on a statement made by Mitt Romney about HUD. “I’m going to take a lot of departments in Washington, and agencies, and combine them. Some eliminate, but I’m probably not going to lay out just exactly which ones are going to go,” Romney told the audience. His words were heard by […]
Read more HUD boss Shaun Donovan jumps into President Obama mortgage melee – POLITICO.com
February 22, 2012 Comments Off
A story in Politico on the deal with the banks and HUD Secretary Donovan’s role is worth a read. I have a lot of doubts about the deal the Obama Administration worked out with the banks not being able to produce the type of relief needed, but at least HUD is finally asserting itself on […]
Read more HUD plays Grinch with its poorest tenants
February 17, 2012 1 Comment
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 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 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 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 Section 8 Waitlists In Texas
June 1, 2011 1 Comment
Previously here at Texas Houser’s, we noted the Dallas Housing Authority lost 13,000 applications to its Section 8 program. Under the Section 8 program, officially termed the “Housing Choice Voucher Program,” families may apply to receive vouchers to help them pay a percentage or portion of their rent. Dallas reopened its Section 8 waitlist for […]
Read more San Antonio Haven for Hope homeless facility receives HUD design award
May 27, 2011 Comments Off
The Haven for Hope homeless facility in San Antonio, Texas is one of three recipients of the HUD Secretary’s 2011 Housing and Community Design Award for excellence in residential housing design. The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects, selected the Haven for Hope homeless facility […]
Read more Hurricane Disaster Spending–an opportunity to repair homes *and* create jobs in affected communities
May 27, 2011 Comments Off
Texas Low Income Housing Information Service is working with residents in Galveston, Houston and the Valley to make sure that under-employed and unemployed Texans get as much work as possible from the Hurricane Recovery dollars. Section 3 says that when HUD dollars are spent on housing or infrastructure projects and low-income people in the affected […]
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 moreMany of These Are Preventable Deaths
April 28, 2011 1 Comment
“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 moreIncreasing Minimum Entry Door Width in Manufactured Housing
April 11, 2011 1 Comment
TxLIHIS recently submitted Comments to the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC), a federal advisory committee to HUD on the regulation of manufactured housing, regarding its review of the minimum exterior door and interior hallway widths allowed in the building code for such homes. These comments follow: ************************ April 8, 2011 Mark J. Mazz, AIA General […]
Read moreNYT: Time Runs Out for St. Bernard Parish
March 30, 2011 Comments Off
This morning’s New York Times has an Op-Ed about HUD’s proposed action regarding housing discrimination by the government of St. Bernard Parish, LA. Time Runs Out for St. Bernard Parish It has taken far too long, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development has finally intervened in an outrageous case of housing discrimination by […]
Read moreU. S. House FY11 Budget Bill Slashes and Burns Federal Housing Safety Net
February 14, 2011 Comments Off
This press release from the National Low Income Housing Coalition unfortunately shows the current budgetary carnage is not restricted to State Legislatures. This environment makes clear the Feds aren’t going to be picking up any of the housing or homeless services needs dropped by Texas. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on its […]
Read moreHUD’s Worst Case Housing Needs Report for 2009
February 7, 2011 Comments Off
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 moreTwo Reports from the HUD OIG on Texas Entities
January 31, 2011 Comments Off
HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released two audit reports on Texas entities last week. One report covered $503 million of the Katrina, Rita, and Wilma disaster recovery funds that flowed through TDHCA’s CDBG program, while the other report covered $725,546 in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) […]
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 moreHUD “First Look” program asks buyers to overlook PTAF
July 21, 2010 2 Comments
Earlier this month HUD announced a “first look” initiative which would give participants in HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) preference to acquire homes from HUD’s inventory of foreclosed properties. The initiative was announced by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan at the National Council of La Raza annual conference in San Antonio. Unfortunately, while it sounds great, […]
Read moreTexas Prioritizes Sewers and Financial Assistance to For-Profit Businesses over Low Income Housing in CDBG program
July 12, 2010 1 Comment
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 moreTexas failing to spend federal funds for foreclosure-impacted communities
June 30, 2010 6 Comments
New report finds that millions are at risk of being returned to the federal government Austin, TX – Texas may be forced to return an estimated $42 million in unspent federal funds meant to stabilize foreclosure-impacted communities, unless state and local agencies begin properly utilizing the funds, according to a report released today by the […]
Read moreFailing Waco property facing closure
April 9, 2010 Comments Off
Back in 2008 we listed the eleven subsidized housing properties with the lowest physical inspection scores from HUD. One of those properties, Parkside Village of Waco, recently received another failing inspection stores and will likely be shut down by HUD. (While two other Waco properties appeared on a more recent list of two subsidized housing […]
Read moreTransforming rental assistance through the HUD budget
March 17, 2010 Comments Off
Earlier this year we commented on the proposed The 2011 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs. Recently, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities weighed in with their thoughts. The CBPP analysis highlights the Transforming Rental Assistance (TRA) initiative, a $350 million program to convert some 300,000 units (280,000 public […]
Read moreUpdate: HUD’s Public Inspection Scores
February 9, 2010 Comments Off
Last week we pointed to HUD’s release of 2009 Physical Inspection Scores for subsidized properties. Eric Dexheimer at the Austin American Statesman followed up on the story this morning, adding some insight about American Housing Foundation, the owner of one of the lowest scoring properties in the state. If you haven’t followed the stories, be […]
Read moreHUD fails 14 percent of Texas subsidized properties inspected in physical inspections
January 25, 2010 2 Comments
Back in 2008 we presented data on physical inspection scores of subsidized housing in Texas. HUD has updated this dataset to reflect more recent inspections, and things are still bad. 56 of 388 properties inspected (14%) by HUD in 2009 received a failing score (i.e. less than 60 on a 0-100 scale) . The ten […]
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