HUD Statement on GSEs Coming Soon

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan
said a statement on the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is coming
soon.

This comment was made today during a media briefing on HUD’s proposed 2011 budget.
A reporter inquired why little was said in the spending plan about
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

HUD made a commitment last summer as part of its proposal on financial
regulatory reform that it would put forward a statement on the GSEs around
the time of the budget.

“We did not say that it would be included in the budget document itself,”
Donovan said. “We continue to be on track to release a statement in the near future on the GSEs.”

Nothing should be read into the fact there isn’t a fuller statement in the
budget document, according to Donovan.

SRO Residents Can Call 311 For Help

Residents living in San Francisco’s single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings can call the city’s 311 line to report building and health problems.

Local residents have typically used the 311 customer service center to report potholes, graffiti, and other outdoor issues. Housing advocates and city workers recently teamed to expand the call center to assist SRO residents, who can use the number to report building safety and health issues.

“Issues like rodents, inadequate heat or water, and block fire exits are a reality for low-income residents,” said Josh Vining, a community organizer for the Mission SRO Collaborative, the advocacy group that led the community effort. “311 now gives people a way to report unhealthy or unsafe conditions and to follow-up on the solution.”

As far as he knows, no other city provides a similar service for SRO residents. Vining says there are about 530 SRO buildings in San Francisco, housing an estimated 18,000 residents.

The call center will minimize duplicative requests to agencies and direct complaints to the appropriate department.

Mayor Gavin Newsom formed the center in 2007, and it’s been a touchy topic with some members of the Board of Supervisors, who want to cut it to save money.

Nonprofit Prepares to Close

An official with Tualatin Valley Housing Partners (TVHP) tells us that the 15-year-old nonprofit group is edging closer to shutting down by selling its affordable housing properties.

Potential buyers are busy performing due diligence as they consider taking over the Beaverton, Ore. group's portfolio of about seven properties. It doesn't look like there will be one buyer to take over all the communities. Instead, several groups will acquire individual developments.

The dispositions could take place in the next 60 days or so, according to Larry Iverson, board president.

TVHP is among the businesses that have been hit hard by the recession.

Grants and development fees dried up, some residents lost their jobs and could not pay their rents, and the financial markets were a mess. In addition, a former employee looks to have taken a modest amount of funds. The impropriety involved less than $10,000 and did not play a big role in TVHP’s closing, according to group.

We wonder how many other housing firms are at the tipping point.

CTCAC Schedule Released

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee has released its proposed program schedule and deadlines for 2010.

Under the plan, applications for the first round of funding for low-income housing tax credits will be March 25. Look for application workshops throughout February.

The second-round deadline will be July 7.

For more information, visit www.treasurer.ca.gov/ctcac.

Talking Head Joins New Urbanism Panel

David Byrne, former frontman of the Talking Heads, has joined the lineup for the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) meeting in May.

He’s taking part on an opening panel at the “Rx for Healthy Places” conference in Atlanta. The rock star may sound like an unusual choice, but Byrne is a thoughtful commentator on urban life.

Byrne's book Bicycle Diaries chronicles how his use of bicycles as his primary form of transportation (and folding bicycles wherever he travels) taught him to view the world and its cities differently. His also wrote an essay for the Wall Street Journal this fall that described his perfect city.

"Riding his bicycles through the cities of the world, David Byrne is out front among the voices from diverse worlds — the arts, economics, music, public health — who are seeing connections between how we build neighborhoods, how we get around and how well we live," said John Norquist, CNU president and CEO, in a statement. "Whether its songs such as 'Once in a Lifetime' or other forms of art and writing, he's been a shrewd observer of modern life so it's a real joy to see him turn his eye to the built environment and the communities it supports."

NSP Competitive Grants Announced

Nearly 60 grantees were awarded $2 billion under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds, announced the Department of Housing and Urban Development today.

Florida communities and organizations received the largest amount, nearly $349 million. California received more than $318 million, with the city of Los Angeles receiving $100 million. Michigan was next with nearly $224 million going to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, which is working with 12 communities—Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Pontiac, Saginaw, and Wyandotte.

This round of grants is being awarded competitively to applicants with the most innovative ideas to rebuild local communities while demonstrating they have the capacity to deliver on their plans.

The grants will help build on the work being done by state and local governments and nonprofit developers to acquire land, demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties, and/or to offer downpayment and closing cost assistance to low- and middle-income homebuyers. Grantees can also create land banks to assemble, temporary manage, and dispose of foreclosed homes.

Funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the NSP was created to help redevelop communities hit by foreclosures and vacant homes.

Last year, federal housing officials awarded nerly $4 billion in NSP formula funds to more than 300 grantees nationwide to help communities respond to the housing crisis.
Another $50 million was awarded in technical assistance grants.

For more information, visit www.hud.gov.

Soundtrack Benefits Enterprise, United Way

The next time you're on iTunes, check out the new By The People: For The People soundtrack, which features Bruce Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews, Tim McGraw, Dashboard Confessional, John Mayer, and other artists. The proceeds benefit the United Way and Enterprise's efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Exclusively on iTunes, the soundtrack was inspired by the HBO documentary By The People: The Election of Barack Obama. The film was produced by actor Edward Norton, an Enterprise trustee.

“In many ways, By the People is a portrait of the people in Obama's campaign who believed that their individual effort could help make history," Norton said. "So, it's fitting that all the proceeds from the soundtrack support Enterprise and United Way's efforts to engage volunteers who also think that they can make a difference, restoring hope and rebuilding lives in the Gulf Coast.”

VanAmerongen Resigns as NY Housing Commissioner

Deborah VanAmerongen, commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, is resigning effective Jan. 15, 2010, according to a statement from Governor David Paterson.

VanAmerongen, who has held the agency's top post since 2007, is expected to join the Nixon Peabody law firm as an adviser. Nixon Peabody has an active affordable housing practice.

Paterson praised VanAmerongen for her work in New York, including helping to author legislation and provide tens of thousands of units of affordable housing. "Perhaps her greatest achievement is helping to negotiate the recently completed refinancing of Starrett City, which will keep nearly 6,000 households affordable for an additional 30 years," he said.

VanAmerongen is the second state housing official to resign in recent weeks. Priscilla Almodovar, president and CEO of the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the State of New York Mortgage Agency, resigned in early December.

VanAmerongen is a member of Affordable Housing Finance's Editorial Advisory Board.