Author Archives: Serenna McCloud

Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up

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  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Issues a Revised Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) notice, RAD which is the program by which Public Housing Authorities obtain funding for project based rental assistance.  The revised notice, among other things, increases the maximum number of units per project, provides additional rights and protections for tenants and provides greater incentives for green initiatives.

 

Friday’s Government Reports

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  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announces access to the consumer complaint database where users can read consumer narratives and download complaint data as desired.  The CFPB describes it as an enhanced public-facing consumer complaint database, which includes for the first time over 7,700 consumer accounts of problems they are facing with financial services providers – including mortgages, bank accounts, credit cards, debt collection, etc.
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Semi-Annual Report to Congress (SAR) for the period ending March 31, 2015 – In which it details how: $1.2 billion in funds put to better use; more than $1.7 billion in questioned costs; and more than $457 million in collections through 38 audit reports were reported. HUD also reported more than $38 million in recoveries.
  • HUD’s Policy Development and Research Division (PD&R) publishes reports every quarter profiling 12-15 housing markets, the latest batch includes, amoung others: Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado; Savannah, Georgia; and Spokane, Washington.

 

Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up

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  • Capital New York reports another study which finds that non-whites are at a disadvantage when it comes to securing a home loan, this is more pronounced in the conventional loan market (less so for FHA loans). Includes an interactive chart which breaks down the stats by borough.
  • Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Annual State of the Nation’s Housing 2015 reveals historic lows in homeownership rates, and a corresponding “rental boom,” a shortage in supply for single family dwellings, and an increasingly severe rental affordability problem.
  • National Association of Realtors’ release of Existing Home Sales statistics for May reveal a strong rebound over April, in fact sales are strongest they have been in 6 years, with first time homebuyers making up the biggest portion of buyers.
  • NYU Furman Center’s new working paper – Utility Allowances in Federally Subsidized Multifamily Housing – advocates four policy changes which would help HUD increase energy efficiency in the properties it subsidizes.  These include, 1. Incentivizing owners to switch to individually metered units; 2. Incentivizing owners to make energy saving upgrades; 3. Provision of utility allowances that are affordable but make recipients bear the cost of consumption; 4. Provide information about relative utility costs to increase tenant purchasing power.

Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up

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  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is proposing policy changes to improve access to low-poverty neighborhoods – recent research (summarized here) indicates that place has a lot to do with educational attainment and earning power throughout life.  HUD’s housing choice voucher program is proposing new rules that  will increase access to lower poverty neighborhoods by allowing higher fair market rent calculations.

Thursday’s Advocacy & Think Tank Round-Up

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  • On June 23, at 2pm the Urban Land Institute, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Hart Research are hosting a Virtual Conversation entitled: Housing, Communities, & Messaging that Resonates: Results from Three New Polls (RSVP Here).
    • Americans’ housing and community preferences in this rapidly changing landscape,
    • where and how Millennials want to live,
    • overall satisfaction with government’s prioritization of housing affordability, and
    • the most persuasive messaging about affordable housing.
  • Corelogic’s Equity Report finds that 245,000 properties regained equity in the first quarter of 2015 – over 90% of properties have positive equity and the percentage of “underwater” mortgages decreased by over 19% year-over year.

Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up

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Friday’s Government Reports

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  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a report entitled A Closer Look a Reverse Mortgage Advertisements and Consumer Risks which discusses its findings regarding the failure of reverse mortgage ads to mention the considerable risks involved in reverse mortgage loans (while extolling their virtues).  The CFPB also released a consumer advisory to warn seniors about the potential pitfalls of reverse mortgages.
  • A new rule requiring a Three Day Review Period for Mortgage applications submitted after August 1st, 2015 will only apply if certain (3) changes are made before closing: 1. Changes in Annual Percentage Rate (APR); 2) Prepayment terms; 3) Basic loan product changes (i.e. from fixed at adjustable rate). The CFPB has released a factsheet detailing how the new rule functions.
  • The Federal Housing Finance Agency unveiled an interactive online map to help “in the money borrowers” identify the opportunity (those eligible for The Home Affordable Refinance Program aka HARP).