The Obama administration has finally launched the new Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, a $1 billion initiative to help unemployed homeowners with their mortgage payments by giving them zero-interest loans of up to $50,000. The program was delayed last year as a result of complications in coming to agreements with state agencies, a non-profit counseling network NeighborWorks USA and a financial processing firm that are helping to run the program. The catch: Because of the delay, homeowners only have a month to apply for the program. Applications will be rejected after July 22.
“It will be challenging,” to enroll borrowers, given the short time frame, said David Berenbaum, chief program officer of the Washington-based National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which is helping run the program.
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Should being pregnant and taking maternity leave ever constitute reasons to be turned down for a home mortgage or having your loan closing postponed?
You might think not, but two new legal actions by federal fair lending regulators suggest that the mortgage industry — and even federally run financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — may need to address the issue.
In one case, a Seattle-area physician settled a discrimination complaint with Cornerstone Mortgage Co., a national mortgage banking firm based in Houston. In the second, the Department of Housing and Urban Development accused MGIC, one of the country’s highest-volume mortgage insurers, of discrimination by underwriters against a Pennsylvania homeowner whose application allegedly was denied because she was on maternity leave. [more]

The Anti-Discrimination Center, a New York City non-profit housing group, has asked a Manhattan district court to enforce a 2009 consent decree that settled a lawsuit over Westchester County’s alleged failure to
follow federal fair-housing laws, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The center, which was awarded $7.5 million in the settlement, claims that the county is skirting its obligations to enforce the laws, citing missed deadlines and failure to provide sufficient planning documents. The center also complained that the federal government and court-appointed monitor aren’t doing enough to ensure compliance.

A representative for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the department is taking the case seriously. It is currently withholding $7.3 million in yearly federal housing funds for Westchester until the county meets requirements. [more]

The nation’s largest banks could face a potential liability of $17 billion in civil lawsuits if a settlement isn’t reached to address improper foreclosure practices, state attorneys general said yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Banks and federal officials have been going back and forward in the last two months trying to settle allegations of abuses related to mortgage servicing which emerged last fall, and the two parties are still not agreeing. The banks are proposing a $5 billion settlement to compensate wronged borrowers while some federal officials are pushing for more than $20 billion. [more]

In a housing market crowded with distressed sellers and hesitant lenders, poor housing construction figures are far from surprising. There were just 523,000 construction starts on U.S. homes in April, down 10.6 percent from last month, and 23.9 percent from April 2010, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today. That marks the largest decline since October 2009. New residential building permits also fell in April, to 551,000 from 574,000 in March and 632,000 last April. Housing completions actually rose from March’s all-time low, but still remained 25.5 percent below the number achieved last April. Only the Midwest showed positive signs in April, as housing starts jumped 15.7 percent month-over-month, but they still sit nearly 20 percent below last April’s total. TRD

In a small boost for the flailing housing market, U.S. sales of new single-family homes rose by 11.1 percent in March 2011 to 300,000, exceeding the appalling February low of 270,000. They still fell, however, 21.9 percent lower than the same figures last year, according to data released today by the Commerce Department. The median sales price of new homes sold in March 2011 was $213,800 compared with $207,700 in February; the average sales price was $246,800. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of March was 183,000. That represents a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate. Sales were up 66.7 percent in the Northeast, and down only 0.6 percent in the South since February.TRD
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The city is teaming up with local governments in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties and four Connecticut cities to combat sprawl by building up the neighborhoods surrounding transit hubs. Thanks to a $3.5 million funding grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New York City will work to develop plans for new housing and commercial space around public transportation, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, which is overseeing the effort, this marks the first time since the Nixon administration that federal funding has been allocated for regional planning. [more]

From left: Barbara Fox, David Schlamm

Real estate brokers are becoming increasingly cautious with their listing descriptions to comply with federal, state and city fair housing laws, the New York Times reported. There is no official Department of Housing and Urban Development list of acceptable and unacceptable terms, and at one time that encouraged so much caution that the agency actually sent a list of phrases that were acceptable, including “bachelor apartment.” But as social sensitivities heighten, some brokers, including David Schlamm, president of City Connections, are wary of the phrases “bachelor pad,” “fisherman’s retreat” and “traditional neighborhood.” Barbara Fox of Fox Residential Group even refers to “family” — as in, a house is “perfect for families” — as the “f” word. [more]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will release $1 billion
in mortgage assistance to the unemployed this spring, after receiving
complaints from lawmakers and advocacy groups that HUD was stalling in
their efforts. More than 60 national consumer advocacy groups called on
HUD to implement a program that would pay up to $50,000 per eligible
borrower, Housingwire reported. The HUD money comes with a 0 percent
interest rate and seeks to help homeowners with mortgage payments for up
to 24 months. [more]

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes rose to their highest level in eight months in December, after surging 17.5 percent over the rate of new home sales recorded the month before, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As 2010 came to a close, new homes were selling at an annual rate of 329,000 — 7.6 percent below the December 2009 rate of 356,000 — with a median price of $241,500. Overall, there were 321,000 new homes sold in 2010 at a median price of $221,900. TRD