HUD

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently proposed a new rule that would establish a system for evaluating and rating the performance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in serving three specific underserved markets identified in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) in 2008 ““ manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural markets.

HUD’s Office of Policy Research & Development has released a new information system containing labor force data for cities from a database of Local Area Unemployment Statistics data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan this week announced the Obama Administration’s nomination of C. Donald Babers to serve as the Department’s Southwest Regional Director.

Last week, the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association welcomed over 120 industry professionals to Washington, DC for its 2010 Spring Affordable Housing Policy Forum. The highly praised program explored the critical nexus between today’s changing public policy environment and affordable housing development, as well as combined NH&RA’s traditional transaction-oriented sessions with valuable social networking opportunities.

HUD has published its FY-2010 Choice Neighborhoods Imitative (CNI) NOFA Pre-Notice. CNI is funded at $65,000,000 in FY-2010. The pre-notice is intended to help potential applicants prepare for the application process. It sets out the core goals of the initiative and outlines the framework and selection criteria for the competition.

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research has released a report, “Preview of Data for U.S. Housing Market Conditions 1st Quarter 2010.” Published quarterly, the report provides statistical data and written reports on housing market conditions in the U.S.

Earlier this week, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services on the Preservation, Enhancement and Transformation of Rental Assistance Act (TRA), an initiative proposed in the FY-2011 budget to streamline HUD’s rental assistance programs and revitalize the existing stock of public and assisted housing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued a report to Congress that found that the severity of “worst case housing needs” in the U.S. grew dramatically between 2001 and 2007.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued a federal register notice that announces a Section 8 demonstration program for determining FMRs in smaller metropolitan areas.

NH&RA has also been meeting with HUD officials to discuss forthcoming changes to underwriting standards, lender qualifications, and other areas in the FHA multifamily mortgage insurance programs to assure that the reforms encourage rather than deter FHA financing of affordable rental housing projects in a timely and cost-effective manner.

The U.S. Green Building Council recently published a new report that shows that the Obama Administration has the executive authority to use over 30 existing federal programs worth $72 billion to enhance energy efficiency in the nation’s multifamily housing and commercial buildings, without the need for new legislation.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is soliciting comments and suggestions from Section 108 recipients for developing performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program, collects information on the activities, accomplishments and outcomes of Section 108 grantees, and collects original information needed for the analysis of program’s overlap with other Federal programs.