Newsroom
House Financial Services Subcommittee Chair Introduces Housing Assistance Reform Bill
House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) introduced last week the Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act of 2015, H.R. 3700. The bill incorporates several previously proposed policy changes to improve HUD assistance programs that enjoy bipartisan support and are relatively noncontroversial. In his press release announcing the bill, Luetkemeyer states that “these reforms will help to put our nation’s housing programs on a path to maximize effectiveness and deliver more opportunity for both people in need and the organizations that serve them.”
Moody’s Report Indicates HFAs Will Continue to Experience Strong Financial Performance
Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) recently-released HFA financial medians report concludes that HFA financial profiles demonstrated solid improvement in FY 2014. The report predicts that national wage growth and lower unemployment, which have caused an increase in household formations, will enable HFAs to retain their strong financial positions in the future.
HUD Inspector General Releases Second Report on Housing Agency Down Payment Assistance Programs
Late yesterday, HUD’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a second Audit Report finding that a lender violated Federal Housing Administration (FHA) policy by originating FHA-insured loans that included down payment assistance grants from a government entity that the OIG says utilized “premium pricing” to pay for the grants. The report focuses on loans originated by loanDepot, LLC, a California-based mortgage lender, which included down payment assistance from a program administered by the Golden State Finance Authority (Golden State).
Government Shutdown Averted
Late September 30, President Obama signed a continuing resolution (CR) funding government programs through December 11, thereby forestalling a government shutdown. Both the Senate, by a vote of 78 to 20, and the House of Representatives, by a vote of 277-151, passed the CR earlier that day.
NeighborWorks Report Illustrates the Ongoing Success of National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program
On September 24, NeighborWorks America released its eleventh Congressional Report on the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program. According to the report, NFMC participants, including 40 HFAs, have provided 1.9 million homeowners foreclosure mitigation counseling since the program was launched in December 2007.
Guest Post: Enterprise and JCHS Project Renter Burdens in 2025
Earlier today, Enterprise Community Partners and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released Projecting Trends in Severely Cost-Burdened Renters: 2015–2025, which examines how demographic and economic trends over the next decade are likely to affect the near record number of renters with severe housing cost burdens—that is, paying more than half their income in rent.
House Financial Services Chairman Seeks Recommendations for Restructuring HUD and Improving the Delivery of Housing Resources
In commemoration of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 50th anniversary, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has issued a call for ideas to reform HUD and modernize the delivery of federal housing assistance. Hensarling argues that HUD has not lived up to the expectations set for the agency by President Lyndon Johnson when he created the department, stating, “instead of marshaling federal resources towards the goal of addressing America’s housing needs, HUD has come to symbolize the dashed hopes of the Great Society vision that mistook centralization for coordination and spending for compassion.”
HUD Accepting Entries for 19th Annual HUD Secretary’s Opportunity and Empowerment Award
HUD and the American Planning Association (APA) recently announced they are accepting entries for the 19th annual HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award.
Fannie Mae Introduces Revamped Affordable Loan Product
Yesterday afternoon, Fannie Mae introduced the HomeReady™ product, a new lending option for low- and moderate-income borrowers. This new initiative will replace Fannie Mae’s MyCommunityMortgage® products, which are currently the firm’s primary offering for low-income consumers.
FHA Announces New Initiatives to Promote Green Single-Family Housing
On August 24, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced two new policies designed to promote energy-efficient single-family housing. This announcement was part of a broader set of green energy initiatives that the Obama Administration announced the same day.
Moody’s Report Finds HFAs in Strong Position to Capitalize on Surge in Millennial Homebuyers
Last week, Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) released a report projecting the impact a surge in millennial homebuyers will have on state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs). Moody's concludes that if home purchases by millennials were to increase by 20 percent, HFAs would originate an additional 12,800 loans for the sector and an average of 300 additional loans per year.
FHFA Establishes 2015-2017 Affordable Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) adopted a final rule yesterday establishing affordable housing goals for the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2015 through 2017. The final rule increases the GSEs’ affordable single-family and multifamily goals from those FHFA initially proposed in August 2014.
