Issue #163

the Florida State Legislature was launching a $9.6 million effort intended to unclog the court system by establishing foreclosures-only courts across the state

The Chicago City Council is considering legislation to hold lenders more responsible for properties they have foreclosed upon.

Film director Michael Moore is launching the State Theatre/Michigan Downtowns Project, which aims to promote nonprofit movie theaters as vehicles for revitalizing Michigan towns.

Investors have played, and will continue to play, an important role in foreclosure-ravaged communities. What can towns do to ensure investors are responsible, and what role can CDCs play?

Community land trusts succeed in curing delinquencies and preventing foreclosures, and the numbers show it.

Things may be changing for 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx, a deteriorating building that’s sometimes credited as being the birthplace of hip-hop.

Despite critiques, NSP is a powerful program that, with a few years under its belt and the help of “first look” programs, can move beyond its slow start and make a major difference.

The improved Home Mortgage Disclosure Act can be a tool for fighting predatory lending, but it could and should go further.

Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use” praises people who jump right in to whatever work needs to be done, passing buckets of water down the line to put out […]

The federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program is a welcome source of funds in struggling communities, and it has had a massive effect on the nature of the response to the problem of vacant foreclosed property. As NSP3 gets underway and the NSP1 obligation period comes to a close, Shelterforce looks back at NSP so far.

Bank reform offers a chance to address an under-the-radar form of redlining with the same sort of data disclosure HMDA requires about mortgage lending.

It’s no secret that the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, has produced lackluster results

HUD Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development Mercedes Márquez spoke with Shelterforce about NSP, technical assistance, and the importance of leveraging resources.

Urban agriculture projects bring hope — and food — to communities that have long suffered from a glut of empty lots.

The federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program has a lot of mass appeal. But banks have been slow to act and HAMP was never intended to be the sole solution to the foreclosure crisis. HAMP needs backup.

For an “emergency” measure, NSP came so loaded with ever-shifting regulations and restrictions it was hard to get any money out the door. It’s getting better, but more could be done.

Bostic, now in his second turn at HUD, is known for his extensive work analyzing the roles that credit markets, financing, and policy play in furthering economic access for all.