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Human & Civil Rights Agencies

Loan Modification Program Starts to Get Some Traction

By David Streitfeld

Published: March 12, 2010, New York Times

After a dismal start, the Obama administration’s antiforeclosure efforts are finally gaining some traction. But the results are still paltry when set against the vast sea of homeowners in trouble.

The Treasur...

HUD STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT OF JOB CREATION REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Published March 8, 2010 by HUD

3,100 agencies submit 2008 annual reports documenting efforts to hire low-income residents

WASHINGTON – More than 3,100 state and local government agencies have responded to the U.S...

HUD CHARGES NEW YORK LANDLORDS WITH DISCRIMINATING AGAINST VETERAN WITH DISABILITIES: Vietnam-era veteran allegedly denied use of service animal

Published March 4, 2010 by HUD

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that it is charging two Poughkeepsie, New Yo...

With New Homes, Town Makes Amends for Its Bias

By Susan Saulny, New York Times

Published: March 10, 2010

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — Even though more than 50 years have passed since Sallie Sanders was a confused little girl wondering why her family was kicked out of their house for being on the wrong side of the color line here, t...

Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

By David Streitfeld, New York Times

Published: March 7, 2010

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.

This latest program, which will allow owne...

DES MOINES – Governor Chet Culver announced today that affordable housing initiatives in Council Bluffs, Des Moines and Dubuque will receive a total of more than $2.8 million to preserve 117 affordable housing units. The awards are made through the Affordable Housing Program, a part of the Culver/Judge Administration’s I-JOBS initiative. The Iowa Finance Authority administers the program.  “These awards will help provide safe and decent living conditions for some of Iow...

The Obama administration, under intense pressure to help millions of people in danger of losing their homes, is considering a ban on foreclosures unless they have first been examined for potential modification, according to a set of draft proposals. That would raise the stakes from the current practice, which strongly encourages lenders to evaluate defaulting borrowers for a modification but does not make it mandatory.

The U.S. Justice Department has reached a settlement with the developers of two Davenport multifamily housing projects that violated the federal Fair Housing Act. Under the settlement, which must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, the developers of Kimberly Ridge Manor and Jersey Ridge Manor must make the complexes accessible to persons with disabilities.

The New York Times has run a couple of articles in recent weeks about whether it makes sense to walk away from a mortgage that is bigger than the house is now worth. In a recent paper cited in an article on Sunday, “Underwater, but Will They Leave the Pool?” a University of Arizona law professor, Brent White, explained how the vast majority of underwater homeowners continue to make mortgage payments even if it might make more financial sense for them to strategically default and w...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $26.3 million to 98 fair housing organizations and other non-profit agencies in 37 states and the District of Columbia to assist people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination. The grants announced today are funded through HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) and will be used to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, educate the public and the housing industry ...