Tag Archives: HUD

Solvency issues re-emerged for the Federal Housing Administration in a hearing convened Tuesday by the Senate Banking Committee, with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan calling for lower loan-to-value thresholds and more servicer competition to expand refinance opportunities. The hearing quickly turned to servicer competition, which the HUD official said is lacking in part because of strict underwriting guidelines under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, inflating home prices and keeping refinance opportunities out of reach for many homeowners.

The government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) continues to add borrowers to its roster each month, but the pace has slowed. Data released Friday by Treasury and HUD shows the number of permanent HAMP mods granted during the month of March was down 10 percent from the month before and down 45 percent from March 2011. While HAMP activity has slowed, other government-assisted foreclosure alternatives in the form of short sales and deeds-in-lieu have held fairly steady.

The nation’s homeownership rate (seasonally adjusted) dropped to 65.4 percent in the first quarter, its lowest level since the first quarter of 1997, the Census Bureau reported Monday. The homeownership rate fell in all four census regions in the first quarter – the steepest drop in the Northeast, 1.2 percentage points to 62.5 percent. The homeownership rate fell 0.8 percentage points in the South to 67.5 percent; 0.5 percentage points in the Midwest to 69.5 percent, and 0.2 percentage points in the West to 59.9 percent. At the same, the homeowner vacancy rate fell to 2.2 percent nationwide, down from 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, and the rental vacancy rate dropped to 8.8 percent from 9.7 percent one year earlier.

Before a senate subcommittee Thursday, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan revealed details of his department's 2013 fiscal year budget and presented a breakdown on what programs the funds will help. Overall, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2013 provides $44.8 billion for housing programs, an increase of 3.2 percent or $1.4 billion compared to 2012. However, Donovan further explained that the program funding level is offset by $9.4 billion in projected FHA and Ginnie Mae receipts, which means the budget is actually $35.4 billion, or 7.3 percent below the fiscal year 2012 level of $38.2 billion.

New homes sales fell 7.1 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 328,000, the steepest percentage decline since February 2011, the Commerce Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Tuesday. Sales for January were revised upward from 313,000 to 353,000. Economists had expected the report to show a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 318,000 new home sales in March. New home sales in March were up 7.5 percent from March 2011.

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) filed a federal housing discrimination complaint against U.S. Bank on Tuesday following an investigation of the bank's properties. The NFHA stated that the investigation of 177 foreclosed properties owned by U.S. Bank showed that REO properties in African-American and Latino neighborhoods were not as well maintained and marketed as bank-owned properties in white neighborhoods. The U.S. Bank investigation evaluated REO properties in seven metropolitan areas.

The Obama Administration released its March Housing Scorecard Friday, which showed delinquencies on a downward decline, while modifications continue to help struggling homeowners through reduced monthly payments. Foreclosure completions were down though, but delays are expected to pick up due to the mortgage settlement, which just received approval from a federal judge Friday.

The city of Los Angeles, California, is putting its Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds to work with the launch of a new initiative to create jobs rehabilitating foreclosed properties in communities impacted by the housing crisis. The new ""Bridges to Business Success"" program is a public-private initiative providing small minority business owners with procurement training and contract opportunities to create and retain jobs. Los Angeles has been awarded $143 million in NSP funds.

NeighborWorks America announced $73.8 million in awards for foreclosure counseling efforts this week, which followed HUD's recent revelation of $42 million to support housing counselors. This latest round of funding will go to 32 state agencies, 18 HUD-approved intermediaries, and 86 community-based NeighborWorks organizations to provide counseling to those facing foreclosure. About 190,000 homeowners are expected to receive help. NeighborWorks also expects to train more than 2,000 counselors with what is now the sixth round of its program funding.

A former chief financial officer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage (TBW) pleaded guilty Tuesday to making false statements and conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud for his role in a $2.9 billion scheme that contributed to the failures of TBW and Colonial Bank. Delton de Armas of Carrollton, Texas, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 15, 2012. He admitted in court that from 2005 through August 2009, he and others schemed to defraud financial institutions that had invested in Ocala Funding.