The Just City
Yesterday was the second of three, day-long symposia being held this year by the Ford Foundation to celebrate its 75h anniversary. This one, subtitled “A New Geography of Opportunity,” was […]
Mortgage Resolution Fund Approved
In expected, but still very exciting, good news, Treasury has approved the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s application to apply Hardest Hit Funds to the Mortgage Resolution Fund developed by Mercy […]
Homeownership Today and Tomorrow: Building Assets While Preserving Affordability
Can low-income families build enough equity in them to transform their circumstances? New research says yes.
New York State Gets on the Land Bank Train
Three years ago, New York state passed land banking legislation, but it went down to veto by Gov. David Paterson, who said he supported land banks, but argued that the […]
“Housing Gets People’s Interest Today”: State of the Nation’s Housing Press Conference
Yesterday, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard released its 2011 State of the Nation’s Housing report in an event at the Ford Foundation. George McCarthy, director of Ford’s […]
Quit the HAMP Bashing!
Joe Kriesberg, director of the Massachusetts Association of CDCs, is tired of hearing people bash HAMP. He wrote this piece about it last December, and it’s only gotten worse since […]
Drexel to Follow in Penn’s Community-University Footsteps
The University of Pennsylvania is well-known as a leader in community-university partnerships, and especially the kind that actually try to build community wealth. Under the leadership of Judith Rodin, now […]
Single Point of Contact Won
Having a “single point of contact” for borrowers has been a repeated theme among those advocating for reform of HAMP, such as Sen. Jeff Merkley. According to Treasury, in guidance […]
Reverse Redlining Suits Proceed
Last year, Ray Brescia wrote in Shelterforce about the potential for lawsuits against banks that engaged in predatory lending or reverse redlining, based on both “toxic product” and discrimination bases. […]
Arkansas Passes Foreclosure Info Law
While housing counseling funding is being slashed, it’s worth noting that Arkansas has enacted a modest yet important law (hat-tip Naked Capitalism) requiring that servicers give homeowners in danger of […]
Is the Mortgage Interest Deduction Vulnerable?
Shelterforce and the National Housing Institute have been outspoken about the need to change the mortgage interest deduction — the country’s largest housing subsidy, which accrues primarily to wealthy households […]
Sustainable Homeownership vs QRMs
One of the many themes running through the interactive session “The Future of Mortgage Finance in America,” this morning at NCRC’s annual conference was the question of how to get […]