WASHINGTON, DC – June 16, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following severe storms and tornadoes two weeks ago.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 16, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $26.7 million in “sweat equity” grants to produce at least 1,500 affordable homes for low-income individuals and families. Funded through HUD’s Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), the funding awarded today, along with the labor contributed by these households, will significantly lower the cost of homeownership.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 15, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that a HUD Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has ordered a Marshall County, Alabama, landlord to pay $49,165 in damages and penalties for violating the Fair Housing Act. HUD initially charged Phillip and Opal Maze, respectively the rental manager and owner of a Marshall County mobile home, with discriminating based on race in December 2009. In an order that became final on May 25, 2011, the ALJ found that Phillip Maze discriminated against a white family and an African American man because one of the family members was dating the African American man

WASHINGTON, DC – June 15, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — According to its latest national homeless assessment, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports the number of homeless persons in the U.S. held steady between 2009 and 2010, despite the economic downturn. For the first time, HUD’s annual report reveals how the Recovery Act’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) helped to mitigate homelessness in America, assisting nearly 700,000 persons in the first year of the program

WASHINGTON, DC – June 13, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today that HUD will provide $5.4 million to public housing authorities in 18 states to supply permanent housing and case management for 676 homeless Veterans in America. This is the fourth and final round of the FY 2010 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH)funding to support homeless Veterans.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 13, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded more than $31 million in grants to public housing authorities, resident associations and non-profit organizations across the U.S. to help public housing residents connect to services available in the community to find employment to increase their economic independence.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 13, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the May edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard. New to this month’s report are detailed assessments for the 10 largest mortgage servicers participating in the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program, setting a new industry benchmark for disclosure on servicer assistance to struggling homeowners. In addition to providing greater transparency about servicer performance in the program, the new assessments are intended to prompt mortgage servicers to correct identified deficiencies to improve program implementation and more effectively reach eligible homeowners

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 7, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Six federal agencies have approved and will submit a Federal Register notice that extends the comment period on the proposed rules to implement the credit risk retention requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The comment period was extended to August 1, 2011, to allow interested persons more time to analyze the issues and prepare their comments. Originally, comments were due by June 10, 2011.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 7, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that $3.6 million in Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants will be awarded in fiscal year 2011 to assist in the transformation, rehabilitation and preservation of public housing and privately owned HUD-assisted housing. Read HUD’s FY 2011 Choice Neighborhoods Notice of Funding Availability.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 3, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to the Stillwater Hospital Association in Columbus, Montana. The $14.3 million loan i…

WASHINGTON, DC – June 2, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — In 2009, an estimated 423,773 children lived in foster care in the U.S. as case workers helped to reunite them with their families or primary caregivers. Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced nearly $15 million to help public housing authorities reunite foster children with their parents or prevent them from ever entering the foster care system. Read a detailed account of the local funding announced today.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 1, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced a settlement agreement with Cornerstone Mortgage Company (Cornerstone), a national mortgage lender based in Houston, which HUD accused of engaging in discriminatory lending practices against expectant mothers. In a separate action, HUD is charging Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and others with engaging in pregnancy discrimination in issuing mortgage insurance in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 31, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that USA4SALE Network, Inc., has agreed to pay $15,000 to settle claims that it violated the Fair Housing Act when it posted ads on its Web sites that discriminated against families with children. In addition, the company has also agreed to change the way its Web sites filter discriminatory language.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 31, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced Green Refinance Plus, a program between HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie Mae to allow owners of existing affordable rental housing properties to refinance into new mortgages that include funding for energy- and water-saving upgrades, along with other needed property renovations.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 27, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced the final Fiscal Year 2011 block grant allocations to approximately 1,200 state and local governments under the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), and the Emergency Shelter Grant Program (ESG). Read more about how HUD’s block grant programs will be allocated at the state and local level.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 27, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded today nearly $15 million to more than 200 public housing authorities across the U.S. to help public housing residents find jobs that lead them toward economic independence. For information on local funding amounts, visit HUD’s

WASHINGTON, DC – May 26, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that it is charging the owner of a five-unit apartment building in Lebanon, NH, with violating the Fair Housing Act for allegedly refusing to rent one of the building’s three residential units to families with children. HUD is bringing the charge on behalf of a mother with two children, who alleged that the owner, Robert Gerow, dared her to “turn him in” when she protested that his refusal to rent to children was unlawful.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 25, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded 10 public housing authorities nearly $34 million in grants today that will be used as seed money to create early childhood education and adult training facilities for public housing residents.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 25, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of North Dakota and provide support to homeowners and low-income r…

WASHINGTON, DC – May 25, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Idaho and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following flooding, landslides, and mudslides storm during March and April.