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 [...]
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Tag Archives: HUD
HUD boss Shaun Donovan jumps into President Obama mortgage melee – POLITICO.com
February 22, 2012
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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
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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 HUD withholds county’s federal funds over fair housing plan
July 25, 2011
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 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 moreIncreasing Minimum Entry Door Width in Manufactured Housing
April 11, 2011
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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
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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
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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
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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 moreTwo Reports from the HUD OIG on Texas Entities
January 31, 2011
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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
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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 moreHUD “First Look” program asks buyers to overlook PTAF
July 21, 2010
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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
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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 moreTexas failing to spend federal funds for foreclosure-impacted communities
June 30, 2010
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 [...]
Read moreHUD OIG subpoenas three Texas lenders
January 12, 2010
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The HUD Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued subpoenas to 15 companies on Tuesday, including three Texas lenders. The investigation is focusing on mortgage companies with significant claim rates against the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance program. The three Texas lenders subpoenaed are: Alethes LLC, Lakeway, TX Alacrity Financial Services, LLC, Southlake, TX Americare [...]
Read moreFort Worth housing fund crisis shows need for more public oversight
June 23, 2009
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Once again the lack of oversight of a city housing department leads to waste and abuse and puts the federal funds in jeopardy. The Fort Worth Weekly reported on May 19 that Jerome Walker the long-time deputy director of Fort Worth’s housing and economic development department was fired on May 7. Now the city’s funding [...]
Read moreHouston’s Tropical Storm Allison home repair debacle provides warning regarding Hurricane Ike funds
December 26, 2008
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The State of Texas is considering turning over administrative responsibility for $1.3 billion in Hurricane Ike rebuilding funds to local governments. A story in today’s Houston Chronicle offers an especially important warning of potential problems with the past administration of these type of funds by the local government positioned to receive the largest share of [...]
Read moreNational housing advocates pleased with new HUD Secretary
December 13, 2008
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President-elect Obama’s announcement of his selection of Shaun Donovan, New York City’s commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development, to be the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has drawn praise from national housing advocates Sheila Crowley of the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Barbara Sard, the director of housing [...]
Read moreNames for next HUD secretary emerge – yawn
December 10, 2008
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Politico is out with a story about potential Obama HUD Secretaries. The story notes that, “In the recent past, the department has been sort of Cabinet stepchild, with its staff and resources cut and its mission muddled.” That’s an understatement. HUD is an embarrassing backwater federal department. The last time it had any serious prominence [...]
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Bo McCarver’s housing news clips for May
- 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
