- Enterprise Community Partners’ latest blog post in the Spotlight on HOME Investment Partnership series highlights the experience of 22 year old Lani, a single mother of two boy’s, who was able to transition from homelessness to stability with the help of Project Independence, a program administered by Adobe Services in Alameda California, partially funded by HOME. Enterprise is highlighting the effectiveness of the program because deep budget cuts threaten to reverse the success of HOME.
- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released a letter sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) expressing concerns that the recently implemented Know Before You Owe/Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Acts (TILA/RESPA) regulations are causing widespread market disruptions in the mortgage industry, and that lenders are worried about mistakes and potential liability – causing a decline in loan approval rates and ultimately liquidity. The CFPB’s Director, Corday, issued a letter in response, acknowledging that the new rules will require extensive operational adjustment and stating: “examiners will be squarely focused on whether companies have made good faith efforts to come into compliance” and that initial examinations will be “corrective and diagnostic, rather than punitive.”
- The National Association of Realtors (NAR)’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward looking index) is down slightly for November, the fourth straight monthly decline. Year over year the metric is up, for the 15th straight month. According to NAR the decline is attributable to tight inventory and rising home prices.
- NAR’s RealtorMag predicts the top cities for first time homebuyers in 2016, among the contenders are Orlando, Florida; DeMoines, Iowa; and Banton Rouge, Louisiana.
Author Archives: Serenna McCloud
Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up
- The White House’s Promise Zone initiative is seeking new applications from communities interested in becoming promise zones. Promise Zones were created in 2013 by The Obama Administration, with the goal of partnering with high poverty communities to create jobs, and promote economic security, public safety, educational access and quality affordable housing. Promise Zone benefits include: tax benefits for businesses locating in or hiring from promise zones, preferences in obtaining federal contracts, and technical assistance in addressing local community revitalization issues. The Promise Zone designation lasts for 10 years.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up
- The National Association of Realtors (NAR)’s Existing Home Sales (EHS) (completed transactions). EHS fell 10.5% from October and 3.8% from last November. NAR believes this precipitous decline is not due to any decrease in demand but, rather, tight inventory and the Industry’s having to adjust to new “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rules.
- Seeking Alpha blog’s about the evolving receivership of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up
- Congress has finally passed the much awaited Tax extender’s legislation, H.R 2029 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, included is a win for affordable housing advocates – the nine percent minimum Low Income Housing Tax Credit was made permanent.
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed a Duty to Serve Underserved Markets Rule, required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) to serve three underserved markets: Manufactured Housing, Affordable Housing Preservation and Rural Housing. The GSEs would be required to establish and implement plans to serve each market and would receive duty to serve credits for success. The proposal is open for comment until March 17, 2016.
Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up
- The Center for American Progress (CAP) has released An Opportunity Agenda for Renters in which it laments its finding that where one lives determines such things as income, mobility and education. In order to address these stubborn patterns CAP recommends a two pronged approach, promoting residential mobility and investment in racially segregated neighborhoods.
Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a tool to measure financial well being, it is a scale of ten questions which financial educators can use to gauge financial well being more precisely and it builds off of the definition of financial well being which the CFPB released in January 2015.
Friday’s Government Reports
- The U.S. Census Bureau has released the latest batch of data from it’s American Community Survey on Small Area Income and Poverty statistics.
