Tag: shelter-short
Holding Banks Responsible
The Chicago City Council is becoming one in a line of local governments to consider legislation to hold lenders more responsible for properties they...
Speed ‘Em Up or Slow ‘Em Down?
As all 50 U.S. attorneys general launched a joint investigation into massive foreclosure fraud — robosigning, which was covering up the underlying problem that...
CHA Back in Charge
After 23 years, the Chicago housing authority is no longer in receivership. The court-ordered receivership had placed administrative duties in the hands of a...
Another Post-War, Middle-Class Enclave in Default
First it was New York City’s Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, and now, another enclave built by Metropolitan Life in the 1940s for veterans...
Countrywide Sued Again
Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against Countrywide, alleging it steered African-American and Latino borrowers into subprime mortgages and charged them...
Attention Underwriters
According to Deutsche Bank, 20 million homeowners might be underwater by 2012. Turns out of those 20 million, those with the most expensive homes...
Little Living Goes a Long Way
As Seattle continues its efforts to expand its affordable housing stock (and housing options), tiny so-called cottages are popping up in its backyards. The...
Why Was ShoreBank Allowed to Fail?
In August, when the FDIC seized ShoreBank of Chicago, it represented the demise of the oldest community development bank in the United States. The...
Columbia Gets Green Light for Expansion
A controversial, 17-acre expansion of Columbia University’s Harlem campus received a nod from the New York Court of Appeals, which overturned a lower court...
Adolfo Carrion: A Brief History
First it was the Office of Urban Policy. Then, at the time of its launch in 2009, it quietly turned into the Office of...
Punitive Measures for Walk-Aways
A few years ago, we warned that lenders, particularly GSEs like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would take punitive measures on people who made...
Foreclosure-Free (Almost) Homeownership
Homeowners in community land trusts (CLTs) across the nation continue to have substantially lower delinquency and foreclosure rates than owners of market-rate homes, according...
Filling the Talent Pool in Newark
Talk about an educated community. Newark, New Jersey, has given the green light to a “teachers village” that will comprise three charter schools, 1,000...
A Roadblock in Manhattanville
Columbia University’s plan to expand its Harlem campus north into a 17-acre parcel currently occupied by warehouses and auto repair shops was put to...
Acorn’s Down… and Up Again?
ACORN, the 40-year-old, nationwide community organizing group has suffered more political fallout in 2009 than any number of shamed political officials embattling a public...
A New Approach to Youth Violence
Heightened awareness, new school programs, and increased police presence, are only some of the methods used to curb youth violence, but a new study...
Permanent Mortgage Modifications Fall Short of Expectations
Only a very small fraction of mortgage modifications made under the $75 billion Making Home Affordable program have been made permanent, triggering some tough...
Starrett City Stays Affordable
Starrett City, the largest federally subsidized housing complex in the country, will remain affordable for another 30 years, easing the minds of residents worrying...
The Nitpicker’s Guide to Foreclosure Mitigation
First, it was judges like Justice Arthur M. Schack of the New York Supreme Court, who made waves by tossing foreclosure motions because he...
Ruling A Step Toward A “Fully Integrated Society”
In August, New York State’s Westchester County entered an agreement that could result in dozens of towns and villages within its borders to aggressively...