Tag: Foreclosure & Financial Crisis

Stop Talking About the Racial Wealth Gap

It may seem counterintuitive, but in order to close the wealth gap, we must shift our focus from the gap itself to the policies, conditions, and systems that spawned it.

After Redlining: Part 2

Headrights and redlining were parts of a systemic structure designed to aid some and debilitate others. Their repercussions are still felt.

Shelter Shorts, The Week in Community Development—Nov. 2

News from—and affecting—the community development world. This week: rent burden relief, policy suggestions for worker co-ops, a new credit scoring model?, states take on housing, and more.

What Future For America’s Small Cities?

These books not only offer something of a window on what is—or is not—going on in small cities, but useful pointers for practitioners working in the types of cities described.

Remember Slavic Village? It’s Back

A Cleveland neighborhood made famous as an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis works its way back to stability. Here’s how.

How Poorly Maintained Bank-owned Homes Harm Black and Latino Communities

Bank-seized properties in these communities of color have higher rates of neglect, and the situation has prompted a lawsuit.

The Big Red Herring: The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Will...

HMDA is the key to preventing predatory behavior, not the cause of it, so how can an economics professor from George Washington University claim that HMDA can facilitate large-scale identity theft?

Bringing “Zombies” Back to Life

With funds from a settlement between the New York State Attorney General and major banks, 76 New York state municipalities are working to get abandoned and deteriorating homes back into productive use.

Why Giving Up on Homeownership Is Giving In

These ideas aren’t new, but pulling them together in a collective, coherent way will push back against those who, like their predecessors of 80, 70, 60 and 50 years ago, would deny long-term stability to those for reasons more than just the color of their money.

A New Kind of Foreclosure Crisis Is In The Making

Some community development organizations think the foreclosure crisis is over, but there’s a new emergency within the more vulnerable segments of our population—and it is hitting the elderly particularly hard, says Lou Tisler, who recently left Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Greater Cleveland after 12 years as executive director. That new crisis is tax foreclosures—the sale of a property due to unpaid tax liabilities.

Some Forms of Displacement Are Beyond Criminal

Earlier this month, The New York Times published a major front-page story on deed theft scams that highlighted the...

Veterans By the Numbers

Some statistics about the state of veterans in America.

Now You See the Money, Now You Don’t

Since November of last year, the United States Justice Department has announced multi-billion dollar settlements with the nation’s three largest banks – Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America (BoA) – over what Justice calls the “packaging, marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities.” Collectively, these three banks have agreed to pay a total […]

Homeowners Empowered To Fight Eviction With This New Tool

The following is a story from Occupy Our Homes, a partner with Homes for All in fighting displacement. The campaign...

The Stunning Inequality Overlooked in the Nation’s “Housing Recovery”

This piece has been excerpted from “What is Mel Watt Waiting For?“ originally published on Huffington Post.—-Mel Watt, the...

What Are Advocates Saying About Johnson-Crapo?

What is the affordable housing world making of the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform? So far here on Rooflines, Dan...

Financial Destruction in Detroit

On Friday, Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city challenging the legitimacy of...

NeighborWorks Asks: Do you Get By With a Little Help From...

It’s been five years since the full force of the Great Recession hit the United States, with a combination...

Eminent Domain to Save Homes?

They're back. Mortgage Resolution Partners has joined with another California city, Richmond this time, pushing a plan...

Manufacturing May Be Coming Back, But It Won’t Bring Jobs

I finally got to see Detropia last week, the acclaimed documentary filmed in Detroit that’s been making the rounds...