WASHINGTON, DC – December 1, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that more than $40 million is available for a broad range of housing counseling programs to help families find and preserve housing. These grants will be awarded competitively to hundreds of HUD-approved counseling agencies and State Housing Finance Agencies across the nation that offer a variety of services including how to avoid foreclosure, how to avoid mortgage scams, how to purchase or rent a home, how to improve credit scores, and how to qualify for a reverse mortgage.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 29, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan for Knox Community Hospital in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The $37.1 million loan is mad…

WASHINGTON, DC – November 29, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — In an effort to dramatically boost public/private partnerships and philanthropic support for strong community development plans across the country, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) today unveiled a new web feature to spotlight grantee and top-tier applicant efforts to create opportunity and revitalize regions, communities and neighborhoods around the country. Featured at www.hud.gov, the web tool displays contact information, partnerships, maps and funders for the most robust proposals to HUD’s flagship community development initiatives, allowing users to easily find and support local transformation efforts.

Providence, RI – November 28, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan toured four Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) properties on Hyat and Joslin Streets in the Olneyville …

WASHINGTON, DC – November 28, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of New Mexico and provide support to homeowners and low-income r…

WASHINGTON, DC – November 21, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the recipients of the 2011 Sustainable Communities Grants, totaling nearly $96 million. Twenty-seven communities and organizations will receive Community Challenge grants and 29 regional areas will receive Regional Planning grants. The goal of HUD’s Sustainable Communities grants is to help communities and regions improve their economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation (see attached grant chart).

ST.CROIX (U.S. Virgin Islands) – November 18, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S.Department of Housing &Urban Development (HUD) Assistant Secretary Sandra B. Henriquez and U.S.Virgin Islands Governor John de Jongh Jr.today opened the new Louis E. Brown public housing development, replacing the aging development that suffered from multiple hurricanes over the years. The new Louis E. Brown Villas is the Virgin Islands Housing Authority’s first affordable housing development in 20 years.

WASHINGTON? DC – November 17, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today issued guidance to help state and local governments streamline their HUD-funded disaster recovery programs and ease the burden of complying with federal law prohibiting so-called ‘duplication of benefits.’ HUD’s new guidanceclarifies existing rules and offers states consistent direction on this issue.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 17, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Thousands more very low-income senior citizens and persons with disabilities will have access to affordable supportive housing thanks to $749 million in housing assistance announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These grants will help non-profit organizations produce accessible housing, offer rental assistance, and facilitate supportive services for the elderly and persons with disabilities.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 15, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released its annual report to Congress on the financial status of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund. This insurance Fund is the backbone of the FHA single-family and reverse mortgage programs. In reporting on findings of the annual independent actuarial study, HUD indicates that, in the midst of continued weakness in housing markets across the county, the MMI Fund capital ratio remains positive this year at 0.24 percent. With new risk controls and premiums put in place by the Obama Administration, the independent actuaries predict the Fund will return to the Congressionally-mandated threshold of two percent capital more quickly than was projected by last year’s review. The economic value of new insurance endorsements in FY 2011 for the Fund was nearly double that of FY 2010 endorsements, being close to $11 billion.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 11, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is marking the occasion by focusing particular attention on the nearly 1.7 mi…

WASHINGTON, DC – November 11, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Vermont and provide support to homeowners and low-income rent…

WASHINGTON, DC – November 11, 2011 – (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, DC, New Orleans, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Miami that will expand job opportunities for low-income people and public housing residents by registering businesses that currently hire them.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 4, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD is proposing new regulatory requirements under its HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). HOME is the largest federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to produce affordable housing for low-income families.Since 1992, the HOME Program has successfully assisted more than one million affordable homes for lower income families. However, Secretary Donovan believes the program can be strengthened to significantly boost the program’s performance at the local level.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 3, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it has reached an agreement with Luxury Mortgage Corporation (LMC), a mortgage lender based in Stamford, Connecticut, settling accusations that the lender discriminated against a woman by denying her mortgage loan because she was on maternity leave. Under the settlement, LMC agrees to pay the woman who was denied the mortgage $12,000.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 3, 2011 – (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 housing data offer continued mixed signals as new home sales rose compared to August, but were still slightly down from the prior year. Mortgage defaults and foreclosure sales continued a downward trend as more homeowners were able to secure mortgage relief. However, foreclosure completions ticked slightly upward in September after months of decline.

WASHINGTON, DC – November 1, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) today immediately suspended Allied Home Mortgage Corporation, thereby preventing the company from originating and underwriting new mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). HUD is also suspending the company’s president and chief executive officer, James C. Hodge, and proposing to debar him as well as the company’s executive vice president, Jeanne L. Stell.

WASHINGTON, DC – October 20, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Very-low income women who have the opportunity to move from high-poverty neighborhoods into lower poverty areas are significantly less likely to be extremely obese or to have diabetes. Those are among the key findings of a study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. An article published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlights the positive health findings, which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development previewed today.

WASHINGTON, DC – October 20, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of New Jersey and provide support to homeowners and low-income re…

WASHINGTON, DC – October 20, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $26.6 million in “sweat equity” grants to produce at least 1,477 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.