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FROM THE EDITOR

Andre Shashaty, Editor
ashashaty@hanleywood.com

Living in interesting times. It has been a crazy few weeks for housing in America. The U.S. Senate woke from its slumber to realize there’s a housing and foreclosure crisis in this country. They actually moved legislation to provide relief and help cities deal with the rising number of foreclosed homes. Alphonso Jackson resigned as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, showing that even the Bush administration felt it needed a more credible spokesman than Jackson to deal with housing programs at this critical time, and that Jackson’s legal woes are not going to blow over. Finally, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came out with a blueprint for reforming the regulation of the banking and mortgage industries. It was especially ironic to read the part where the Treasury Department said the nation needed to address less than rigorous state regulation of mortgage lending. After all, it was the Bush administration that fought ferociously in 2003 to prevent state attorneys general and banking superintendents from cracking down on aggressive lending that put consumers at high risk of default.

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WEB EXCLUSIVE

Jackson’s Resignation: Opening New Chapter at HUD?

A troubled era in the 42-year history of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ended when Alphonso Jackson resigned last month as the agency’s 13th secretary.
FULL ARTICLE

Wanted: New Housing Leader

Housing industry reaction to Alphonso Jackson’s resignation as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development focused on the need to find a replacement who could start the long process of getting the agency back into working order. As of April 4, there was no word on who would replace him, if anyone.
FULL ARTICLE

Want a Commitment?

Affordable Housing Finance continues its effort to forge an industry consensus on the 10 most important policy initiatives for the next president’s first few months in office in 2009. In our May issue, we are publishing a revised list of proposals based on reader voting and extensive conversations with industry leaders. We intend to boil our list down to a set of 10 key principles for the next president’s housing policy, to get endorsements for our proposal and then present it to the next president and members of the new Congress in November. Click here to read about it, and don’t forget to tell us what you think should be in our final proposal.

How to Fix HUD

We are also developing a list of the 10 most important steps needed to get the Department of Housing and Urban Development back on track under the next president. In an online exclusive, read about our tentative list of policy ideas based on reader voting. Click here to see the results, and tell us what you think.

Wachovia Set Free to Underwrite Freddie Mac Affordable Loans

Wachovia Multifamily Capital has received fully delegated status under Freddie Mac's Delegated Underwriting for Targeted Affordable Housing program. The program allows approved lenders to fully underwrite loans without first seeking Freddie Mac's approval, expediting the processing time in exchange for sharing risk.
FULL ARTICLE

AHF Wins Journalism Awards

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE and Editor-in-Chief Andre Shashaty were recently recognized with two Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards, the nation's most prestigious honor for business-to-business journalism.
FULL ARTICLE

Study Shows Varying Impact of Inclusionary Zoning

Inclusionary zoning (IZ) policies that provide density bonuses or other effective cost offsets to developers may be less likely to drive up the price or decrease the supply of market-rate homes, according to a new report.
FULL ARTICLE

Atlantic Yards Stalls

Community opposition, the crisis in the capital markets, and rising construction costs have delayed the 6,400 mixed-income condominium and apartments planned at Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards project indefinitely.
FULL ARTICLE

THE MAGAZINE

Grapevine: A Failure of Leadership

At a time of a real crisis in American housing markets, when homeowners are being thrown into the street and whole neighborhoods face a new era of decay, Sen. Christpher Dodd’s Banking Committee panel has moved no significant legislation.
FULL ARTICLE

Green Scene: Green Takes Flight at Stapleton

Talk about a gold star: The 18 affordable apartments at Central Park at Stapleton here have met the toughest residential green building standard on the books—the gold certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes from the U.S. Green Building Council.
FULL ARTICLE

ANNOUNCEMENTS

AHF’s Readers' Choice Nominations Due Monday, April 14

Did you complete an outstanding affordable housing development in 2007 or do you have an exemplary one planned for 2008? Or have you been involved in an affordable housing development that you think should be recognized? If so, AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE magazine wants to hear about it. The magazine is now accepting entries for its 2008 Readers’ Choice Awards for the Nation’s Best Affordable Housing Developments. The finalists will be featured in the August 2008 issue, with the winners being announced in the November 2008 issue. The deadline for nomination forms is April 14, 2008. For more information, contact Donna Kimura at dkimura@hanleywood.com.
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AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE ONLINE POLL

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Contact

To reach AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE Executive Editor Christine Serlin, please e-mail cserlin@hanleywood.com

To reach AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE online editor John Butterfield, e-mail jbutterf@hanleywood.com.

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