Half-holiday housing mix

Some interesting items at NMHC lately:

First of all, they've posted the expected mixed review of yesterday's FEMA hotel rent announcement (more info here). And NMHC's Jim Arbury is recommending last night's PBS discussion with senior officials in the New Orleans recovery -- transcript available here.

NMHC has also posted a copy of a letter from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus criticizing a HUD plan to make landlords translate their own documents for tenants with limited English. As the letter suggests, the disadvantages for both landlords and tenants go beyond the mere additional cost of translation work: tenants could get badly translated information potentially leading to misunderstandings or to unequal treatment of English-speaking and other tenants; landlords left without the "safe harbor" of standardized translations could be the losers if tenants are able to claim in court that they received inadequate notices.

Also around the Web:

- The SF Chron has a closeup of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who face, at Thanksgiving, what Mr. Paulison terms "the opportunity to become self-reliant again." [MORE: A Boston Globe story is among several explaining how evacuee tenants who are willing and able to pay the difference between a voucher amount and a landlord's rent are being prevented from doing so.]

- David Smith offers one of his typically erudite and offbeat elaborations on Kelo and the future of eminent domain here and here.

- Big HUD-assisted rehab/homeownership program announced for the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

- FHA foreclosure moratorium extended for hurricane areas. [MORE: Yes, this is a single-family form of assistance. It's formally Mortgagee Letter 2005-45.]

- Habitat for Humanity is barging manufactured homes down the Mississippi.

[MORE: HUDCLIPS has posted new application forms for the Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Programs. They're out in four parts, several in a choice of fillable or printable PDF. Fillable PDF links are here... here... here... and here.]