government

The NAHB International Builders’ Show® (IBS) and the NKBA Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) today announced a new strategic partnership with CEDIA, the leading trade association for the residential technology industry, to be part of the 2017 Design & Construction Week® (DCW).

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) delivered the following opening statement at a hearing with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro about sudden policy changes the Secretary is making to the sale of nonperforming loans insured by the government

Informa Exhibitions and USGBC announce famed architect Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), and USGBC COO Mahesh Ramanujam as Greenbuild International Conference and Expo closing plenary speakers. The closing is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7 from 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PST at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

A Montgomery, Alabama, funeral home has agreed to settle FTC charges that it violated the Funeral Rule. The Rule requires funeral providers to give consumers pricing and other important information when discussing funeral arrangements.<

Canoe portage to remain accessible as much as possible during project, and AuSable River Canoe Marathon will be uninterrupted. Crews will be completing a Consumers Energy project to stabilize the Au Sable River bottom just downstream from Alcona Dam from July 11 to August 12.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced funding for 821 projects across the nation that will help rural small businesses and agricultural producers reduce energy usage and costs in their operations. The funding is available through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and will be used to make energy efficiency improvements and install renewable energy systems.

Ginnie Mae today announced that Nancy Corsiglia will join Ginnie Mae as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, reporting to President Ted Tozer. Corsiglia will administer Ginnie Mae’s $1.7 trillion Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) and Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC) programs. She will also be responsible for managing Ginnie Mae’s daily operations, including all MBS operations, counterparty relationships, contracting, budget and legislative initiatives, and overall risk management.

On July 7th, the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) closed on the financing of an affordable housing development in one the District’s most sought after neighborhoods, the U Street Corridor. The Agency issued $27 million in short term DCHFA tax exempt bonds providing a portion of the funding for the acquisition of Portner Place and construction of Portner Flats (1440-1450 V Street, NW) located in Ward 1, one block west of The Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center at 14th and U Streets, NW

the Massachusetts House will take up Economic Development legislation, H.4461(link is external), An Act relative to job creation, workforce development and infrastructure investment. The bill proposes $915 million in investments for critical economic and community development programs, including those that support and create affordable housing.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) tried last night and today to eliminate anti-home-rule riders in the House fiscal year 2017 District of Columbia appropriations bill, which passed the House today with four anti-home-rule riders, but said she will continue the fight to remove all the riders from any final spending bill later this year

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) denounced major policy changes Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro is making to the sale of nonperforming loans insured by the government, saying the moves help liberal special interests at the expense of hardworking taxpayers.  The changes would create “preferential bidding” options for certain buyers and restrict investor options in the program, which HUD originally designed to maximize recoveries of taxpayer losses on government insured loans.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $24 million in grants to assist more than 1,200 low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families annually. These grants provide a combination of housing assistance and supportive services for this vulnerable population

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission recently approved more than $216 million in financing to construct or preserve almost 900 units of affordable housing—most of them for seniors

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded more than $5 million to 42 local public housing authorities across the country that are working aggressively to end veteran homelessness. HUD is awarding additional funds to help these housing authorities administer a joint program with HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) which provides permanent homes and needed services to veterans experiencing long-term, chronic homelessness (see local funding below)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is making a series of enhancements to the Department's Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP) that would have purchasers of severely delinquent mortgages offer qualified borrowers principal reductions and protection from "payment shock." Certain families with distressed mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may soon be eligible for a reduction of their outstanding loan amounts should their mortgages be sold through DASP

The Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units 2016 First Quarter Absorption report provides absorption details for units constructed in the fourth quarter of 2015. The Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This survey measures how soon privately financed, nonsubsidized, unfurnished units in buildings with five or more units are rented (absorbed) after completion.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today published early findings from a rigorous, large-scale, random assignment study on the benefits that housing education and counseling provides to first-time homebuyers. Early results from The First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration are encouraging and suggest homebuyer education and counseling may lead to favorable results for first-time homebuyers in terms of mortgage literacy and preparedness, homebuyer outcomes, and loan performance.

The Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a settlement agreement today to resolve allegations that BancorpSouth Bank violated the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) by using policies and practices that unlawfully discriminated against African Americans and other residents of predominantly minority communities in the Memphis, Tennessee, area, as well as parts of neighboring Mississippi and Arkansas

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro today awarded $8 million to 10 severely distressed neighborhoods to stimulate affordable housing and economic development. Funded through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, these awards will help local leaders to craft comprehensive, homegrown plans to revitalize and transform these neighborhoods.

Dr. Mark Davis is the new director of the Biosciences Center at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).