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| President Bush Offers to Help Troubled Homeowners |
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President Bush today outlined his plan for helping troubled subprime borrowers keep their homes. The initiatives target hundreds of thousands of homeowners. Here are the main points of the president's plan:
1. The President calls on Congress to pass Federal Housing Administration (FHA) modernization legislation. The President's FHA modernization proposal would lower downpayment requirements, allow FHA to insure bigger loans, and give FHA more pricing flexibility. These reforms would empower FHA to reach more families that need help — first-time homebuyers, minorities, and those with low-to-moderate incomes — and offer more options to homeowners looking to refinance their existing mortgage.
2. The President calls on Congress to change a key housing provision of the federal tax code so it does not punish families who are forced to sell their homes for less than their mMortgage is worth. Current tax law counts cancelled mortgage debt on primary residences as taxable income. For example, if the value of a home declines and $20,000 of the homeowner's loan is forgiven, the tax code treats that $20,000 as taxable income. The President proposes temporary relief to ensure that cancelled mortgage debt on a primary residence is not counted as income.
3. The President announced that the administration will launch a new foreclosure avoidance initiative to help struggling homeowners find a way to refinance. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will reach out to a wide variety of groups that offer foreclosure counseling and refinancing for American homeowners. These groups include community organizations like NeighborWorks, mortgage lenders and loan servicers, FHA, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The goal of this initiative is to expand mortgage financing options, identify homeowners before they face hardships, help them understand their financing options, and allow them to find a mortgage product that works for them.
View CNN article.
View USA Today article.
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| Community Strategies represent the shared experience of NeighborWorks America and its member organizations in various topics of community development and affordable housing. |
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| The
NeighborWorks Training
Institute is dedicated to providing the highest quality training
for community development practitioners. Learn about the latest
classes and symposia on leading-edge topics. |
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Congressman Baca Visits California NeighborWorks Organization in Support of Homebuyer Education and Foreclosure Prevention
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| Representative Baca focused his remarks on his support of the NeighborWorks Foreclosure hotline and the importance of educating homebuyers about the mortgage process and choosing a sustainable mortgage. View photos. |
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| Affordable Townhouses in Brooklyn Near Completion |
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The Housing Partnership Development Corporation and TNS Development Group Ltd./Great American Construction Corp. recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Eleazor Moreno and his new townhouse, part of the Marcy New Homes — an affordable housing development in Bedford Stuyvesant of Brooklyn, New York.
The Marcy New Homes development, designed by Hugo Subotovsky Architects, consists of 31 three-family brownstone townhouses reserved for low- to moderate-income residents. The townhomes are being made affordable to first-time homebuyers earning incomes ranging from $38,700 to $75,000, with only $14,900 required as down payments.
The first seven of these townhouses have been completed, with the remaining expected to be occupied this fall.
NeighborWorks member Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford Stuyvesant was among the public and nonprofit groups providing subsidies to make the units affordable. View article in
Multi-Housing News.
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| Boulder, Colorado's Thistle Community Housing Names Roosevelt as New CEO |
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Thistle Community Housing has named Mary Duvall Roosevelt as its new chief executive officer to replace former Thistle CEO Aaron Miripol, who left for a position with the Urban Land Conservancy in Denver.
"A longtime resident of Boulder, Roosevelt brings 20 years of experience in real estate and affordable housing development to further Thistle's mission of ending the growing displacement of hard-working Front Range residents who struggle to afford housing," a Thistle press release said.
Roosevelt is a founding partner of Cornerstone Housing, LLC, specializing in inner-city market revitalization through the development of mixed-income and mixed-use neighborhoods. She also has worked for the City of Boulder Housing Authority and in the commercial real estate field.
In the past six years, Thistle has increased its affordable housing portfolio from 140 to more than 900 homes. It serves about 3,000 people with affordable housing needs.
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| South Dakota Land Trust Gaining Ground to Create Affordable Housing |
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A plan to create affordable housing for middle-income Black Hills families is moving along nicely, according to Neighborhood Housing Services of the Black Hills Executive Director Joy McCracken.
Members of an affordable housing task force are implementing an incorporated land trust that will purchase property at low prices and work with local non-profit housing organizations to sell affordable housing to full-time residents.
Currently the Dakota Land Trust is operating under the auspices of Neighborhood Housing Services of the Black Hills, but McCracken said the trust hopes to be a separate entity by early next year, if not before then.
The land trust, she said, will purchase property for houses developed by local nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity, Neighborhood Housing Services and the Rapid City Community Development Corporation. Once those houses are sold, McCracken said the buyers will retain ownership of the house, but will lease the land under the house from the Dakota Land Trust.
In an effort to keep housing within the land trust affordable, McCracken said homeowners who sell their house after it has acquired value will only be permitted to keep 25 percent of the increased value, as well as their principle payments, improvement costs and any original down payment they made on the house. The Dakota Land Trust, McCracken said, would then retain the remaining funds and sell the house at a lower price than its appraised value — keeping the house affordable forever. View article in Black Hills Pioneer.
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| AHR of Nashville Recognized as Builder/Developer of the Year by State Association |
| Affordable Housing Resources (AHR), Nashville, Tennessee, recently was recognized as the "Builder/Developer of the Year" by the
Tennessee Manufactured Housing Association. AHR was recently among the NeighborWorks organizations featured in a magazine article on factory built housing. View article. [PDF] |
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| Teens Learn to Handle Money in Class |
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Jacquea Olday, who will soon start shopping for a car and insurance and applying to colleges, said she is getting better at handling her money and has a better understanding of how credit works because of a money managing class she took last year.
"I was surprised to learn how much they charge you in APR when you use a credit card," she said of the class called My Money, My Life. It was created and is offered by Neighborhood Housing Services Inc., in partnership with nine Pittsburgh area banks and Mellon Financial Corp.
Launched in 2005, the class rewards students who complete it with $100 start-up savings accounts with participating banks. It was designed to give youth from low-income families in Pittsburgh and surrounding communities financial lessons on how to budget, save money and avoid financial traps, said Emily Keebler, program manager. View article in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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| FHA to Implement New “FHASecure” Refinancing Product |
| President George W. Bush today announced that HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will help an estimated 240,000 families avoid foreclosure by enhancing its refinancing program, effective immediately. Under the new FHASecure plan, FHA will allow families with strong credit histories who had been making timely mortgage payments before their loans reset-but are now in default-to qualify for refinancing.
In addition, FHA will implement risk-based premiums that match the borrower's credit profile with the insurance premium they pay-i.e., riskier borrowers pay more. This common-sense, risk-based pricing structure will begin on January 1, 2008. View HUD news release .
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| Home Depot Community Impact Grants Applications Due September 15, December 15 |
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This Home Depot community program supports organizations that engage volunteers to build, refurbish, or maintain affordable or transitional housing; construct, refurbish, and maintain play spaces; refurbish or maintain community gathering places; and also rebuild structures damaged in weather-related disasters. Maximum grant application is $3,000. For more information, and an application, visit the Home Depot Web site.
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| NeighborWorks Training Institute ~ Portland, Oregon ~ December 10-14 |
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You are invited to join us in Portland, Oregon for the NeighborWorks Training Institute! The institute is an ideal venue for building your community development skills and networking with peers to enhance your career. With more than 100 courses being offered, this event promises to be an exciting and educational experience. Register by October 29 and save $50 off the registration fee!
At the training institute in Portland, Oregon, we're offering:
Please also plan to attend our one-day affordable housing symposium on Wednesday, December 12 - Taking Shared Equity to Scale: An Innovative Method to Grow and Preserve Affordable Homeownership.
See our complete online course grid with many more community development courses to choose from or visit us online at www.nw.org/training for more information.
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| 8th Annual CHAM Conference – November 4-6, 2007 |
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Join us in at the Trump Sonesta in Miami Beach, Florida for the Consortium for Housing and Asset Managements Annual Asset Management Professionals’ Conference. This is the only professional development and networking event devoted solely to building the capacity of affordable housing asset managers. Find out how to register, download the brochure [PDF].
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| Cultural Competency Institute in Washington, DC |
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On October 1-3, 2007, the Alliance for Nonprofit Management will offer its nationally acclaimed Cultural Competency Institute in Washington, DC. The fall 2007 Cultural Competency Institute is hosted by Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector Research Fund, as a co-sponsor. For more information or to register, visit www.allianceonline.org.
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| National Industry Standards for Homeownership Education and Counseling Hits the Marketplace |
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Over the past two months, the National Advisory Council has been actively promoting adoption of the National Industry Standards for Homeownership Education and Counseling at various events and meeting activities. These guidelines represent a baseline measurement for what stands as quality homeownership education and counseling. Nationwide support and adoption of these standards will spearhead stability industrywide in how homeownership training and counseling services are provided.
With the growing rate of home foreclosures, now more than ever, organizations will need to have a standard of reference to ensure that consistent and qualified service is provided to those in most need of homeownership services. We encourage all industry partners to demonstrate their commitment to the National Industry Standards by signing up to adopt.
To date, over 50 organizations have listed their endorsement. To learn more about the National Industry Standards and how your organization can adopt them visit, www.homeownershipstandards.com.
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Our Communities, Our Homes: Pathways to Housing and Homeownership in America’s Cities and States
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| Henry Cisneros, Jack Kemp, Kent Colton, and Nicolas Retsinas put political views aside to address the impediments to housing and homeownership at the state and local levels in a new publication: Our Communities, Our Homes: Pathways to Housing and Homeownership in America's Cities and States. This volume is a compilation of bipartisan recommendations from the authors and success stories from all corners of the country.
This publication is available for $40 from the Joint Center for Housing Studies. |
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| GrantCraft Guide on Evaluation Techniques Includes Success Measures at NeighborWorks America |
Success Measures is featured in the latest series of briefing notes on evaluation released July 24 by GrantCraft, a project of the Ford Foundation, entitled "Participatory Action Research: Involving 'All the Players' in Evaluation and Change.
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