WASHINGTON – December 16, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced $14.8 million to preserve affordable rental assistance for elderly tenants living in subsidized properties. This funding is provided through HUD’s Senior Preservation Rental Assistance Contracts (SPRACs) and is targeted for properties in HUD’s Section 202 “Supportive Housing for the Elderly” program where rental assistance may expire without this important preservation tool.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 12, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Today the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its final rule which defines a ‘Qualified Mortgage (QM)’ that is insured, guaranteed or administered by HUD. The final rule will be effective on January 10, 2014 and will apply to mortgages with a case number assignment on or after that date.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 12, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published revised guidelines for lenders when they manually underwrite mortgage loan applications of borrowers applying for FHA-insured mortgages. This change will improve a lender’s ability to objectively consider a borrower’s risk and reduce additional credit requirements or ‘overlays’ that exceed FHA’s own lending standards.

WASHINGTON – December 10, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the November edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show progress among many key indicators. The purchase of new homes and home prices remain strong and foreclosures are down. Although there is much good news, officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 9, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Today the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it will implement new FHA single-family loan limits on January 1, 2014, as specified by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 5, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — A new set of reports from Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, shows that the nation’s largest mortgage servicers failed to meet 7 metrics in the most recent reporting period, 5 of which were mentioned in his previous reports.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 3, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Following today’s announcement by the Rockefeller Foundation of the first 33 cities named to the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan released the following statement:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 26, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for October 2013:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 25, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that HUD will award $1.7 billion to support homeless assistance programs with the Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). Due to a record number of existing programs requesting funds to continue operating, flat funding from Congress and sequestration, this amount represents a 5% cut to existing programs and risks halting or even reversing recent reductions of homelessness in communities across the country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 22, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that nine communities across the U.S. will receive Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants. The $4.37 million awarded today provides these communities the resources they need to craft comprehensive, community-driven plans to revitalize and transform public or other HUD-assisted housing and distressed neighborhoods. Read more about these local planning efforts.

WASHINGTON – November 22, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released its latest national estimate of homelessness in the U.S., noting reductions in every major category or subpopulation since 2010, the year the federal government established “Opening Doors,” a strategic plan to end homelessness. HUD’s 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress finds significant and measureable progress to reduce the scale of long-term or ‘chronic’ homelessness as well as homelessness experienced by Veterans and families.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 15, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced the project opportunities that will be pursued by each of the ten teams advancing to Stage 3 of the Rebuild by Design competition. Each team will now spend the next five months working with local and regional stakeholders in developing projects and design approaches to increase resilience in the region affected by Hurricane Sandy. The goal is to arrive at projects that are implementable and fundable, leveraging the variety of federal recovery investments being made in the region

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 14, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the City of Joliet, Ill., have settled housing discrimination litigation that will preserve affordable housing for low-income residents in the southwest Chicago suburb for at least the next 20 years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the Civil Rights Division announced today.

WASHINGTON – November 12, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, today unveiled the Location Affordability Portal (LAP), a cost calculation tool that allows users to estimate housing and transportation costs for neighborhoods across the country. The LAP will help consumers and communities better understand the combined costs of housing and transportation associated with living in a specific region, street, or neighborhood and make better-informed decisions about where to live, work, and invest.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 11, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the October edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show important progress across many key indicators—as home prices, purchases of new homes, and sales of existing homes continue to show strong annual gains—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

WASHINGTON – November 6, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that MortgageIT, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, has agreed to pay $12.1 million under a Conciliation Agreement with HUD resolving allegations that the residential lender discriminated against African American and Hispanic borrowers seeking mortgage loans. HUD had alleged that the lender’s practices contributed to minority borrowers being charged higher Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) and fees than similarly-situated white borrowers, and denied minority applicants loans more often than similarly-situated white applicants.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 4, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that Bank of America will pay $45,000 as part of Conciliation Agreements resolving allegations the lender discriminated against pregnant women seeking mortgage loans. HUD had alleged that the Bank of America refused to refinance the mortgages of two couples in California and Texas, because the women were on maternity leave

WASHINGTON – November 4, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Riverside Plaza, a historic housing development in Minneapolis, earned the prestigious 2013 National Trust/HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation. This award recognizes efforts that advance the Nation’s historic preservation goals while providing affordable housing and economic development opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 31, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that a Las Vegas homeowners association, its management company, and the owner of a rental property will pay $65,000 under a Conciliation Agreement resolving allegations that they violated the Fair Housing Act when they refused to grant a family’s request to park in the driveway of its home an ambulance that the family needed to transport its son, who has a disability, to and from medical appointments.

WASHINGTON – October 30, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — One year after Hurricane Sandy devastated coastal communities in the Northeast, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today allocated a combined $5 billion through a second round of recovery funds to five states and New York City. Provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, these recovery funds will assist impacted communities to meet remaining housing, economic development and infrastructure needs.