HUD

WASHINGTON, DC - February 14, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan addressed the National Association of Regional Councils and announced that HUD’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal includes $100 million to fund Regional Planning and Community Challenge Grants. The grants are part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which is an association between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joining the federal government with local partners in taking a pragmatic, regional approach to problem solving that supports local leadership, local resources, and local innovation.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today unveiled HUD’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal. Titled Housing and Communities Built to Last, the budget reflects the President’s vision of an America that can draw strength from its vibrant communities and momentum from a robust housing market.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $4.1 million to 17 public housing authorities to address emergency, safety and security needs at their public housing properties, including measures necessary to fight crime and drug activities.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today unveiled a new pilot program to test an accelerated approval process for the purchase or refinancing of multi-family rental properties assisted through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan awarded today nearly $1.8 billion to public housing authorities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the global resolution between the United States of America and the five largest mortgage servicing banks in the country, which will bring much needed relief to financially distressed homeowners nationwide, Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, today announced that the government will also resolve its claims against the Bank of America, Countrywide Financial Corporation and certain Countrywide subsidiaries and affiliates (Countrywide) for underwriting and origination mortgage fraud.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it has awarded $7.5 million to state and local government agencies that enforce fair housing laws and help communities and housing providers to better understand their fair housing rights and responsibilities (see attached list).

WASHINGTON, DC - February 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Colorado Attorney General John W. Suthers announced today that the federal government and 49 state attorneys general have reached a landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. The agreement provides substantial financial relief to homeowners and establishes significant new homeowner protections for the future.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 7, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the January edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data in the January Housing Scorecard underscore fragility as the overall outlook remains mixed. Inventories of existing homes for sale and the overhang of homes held off market improved over the last two quarters and foreclosure starts continued to fall in December.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 3, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Hundreds of very low-income senior citizens will have access to affordable supportive housing thanks to $31.5 million in housing assistance announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

WASHINGTON, DC - January 31, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $20 million in technical assistance funding to 12 organizations that will, in turn, help local communities across this country stabilize neighborhoods hard-hit by foreclosure through HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)

DETROIT - January 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Sandra B. Henriquez today joined Detroit Mayor Dave Bing to announce a transition plan to return the Detroit Housing Commission to local control. HUD assumed control of the agency in 2005.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is charging the owner of a 24-unit apartment building in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with housing discrimination for denying units to families that have children. HUD’s charge alleges that Nilma Fichera, who owns and manages New York-based N.A.G. Realty, LLC, violated the Fair Housing Act when she refused to show or rent apartments to families with children because she could not certify that the building was free of lead-based paint.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 20, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today allocated $400 million in emergency aid to help communities in eight states to recover from presidentially declared natural disasters in 2011. Provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, these grants will support long-term disaster recovery efforts in areas with the greatest extent of ‘unmet need.’

WASHINGTON, DC - January 20, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Acting Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Carol J. Galante announced the latest in a series of steps to protect and strengthen the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, while enabling the agency to continue to fulfill its mission to provide access to homeownership for qualified borrowers.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 19, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $6.8 million to help local communities across this country to assess the nature and scope of their homeless challenge as part of a broader Administration goal of preventing and ending homelessness. The technical assistance grants awarded today will ultimately help state and local planning organizations or ‘continuums of care’ to improve data collection and reporting that is a critical part of designing their responses to homelessness.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that it is launching a Section 3 Business Registry pilot program in Washington, D.C. that will expand job opportunities for low-income people and public housing residents by maintaining a registry of businesses that currently hire them. Additionally, HUD will implement the pilot program in New Orleans, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami, to give contracting agencies and low-income residents a single source of information to find eligible Section 3 businesses and job opportunities.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it is making available $110 million in grants to transform public and assisted housing and to revitalize communities. Appearing in today’s Federal Register is the Notice of Funding Availability, the federal application, for the FY 2012 Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Program. Read HUD’s funding notice.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of its continuing effort to provide quality housing counseling to the nation's homeowners, buyers and renters, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced the availability of $2 million in grants for housing counseling training. HUD's goal is to fund eligible organizations to deliver training across the full spectrum of counseling services.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the December edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data in the December Housing Scorecard show some subtle improvements in the market over the past year, but underscore fragility as the overall outlook remains mixed. For example, new and existing home sales rose compared to the prior month and remain higher than a year ago, and homes are more affordable than they have been since 1971.