In case great weather and Mother's day diverted your attention away from the "O", above the fold Sunday story on Oregon Hardest Hit Housing Program is HERE.
New reporting not covered by my earlier posts about program:
1. Story says that $1.75 million in payments were made to 242 homeowners without proper documentation and cannot be recovered : "Officials later determined that some of their new customers actually
were not eligible. The state terminated 242 homeowners from the program.
But by that time, the state had extended them more than $1.75 million
in assistance. State officials decided they would make no effort
to retrieve the money. There was little doubt the applicants were in
financial straits sufficient to qualify for the program. But they lacked
documentation necessary to prove it, said agency spokeswoman Karen
Tolvstad. For that reason, the state felt it was "inappropriate"
to pursue the money, Tolvstad said, adding that U.S. Treasury officials
agreed."
2. Story has some details about October 2011 report from Treasury on Oregon Program, saying it "dinged Oregon's underwriting as sub-par on several fronts. It also noted
the agency wasn't doing criminal background checks on employees and
lacked a process to report fraud to Treasury. "
3. Says that Further Development has received $750,000 for 11 deals in pilot loan refinancing program. Reporting also appears to indicate that state will be looking to change the flat monthly fee structure in the Further contract, quoting Director Van Vliet: "If they [Further] can make this work, it could be huge. But I don't have the luxury of paying a flat fee." [My earlier post with Further contract is HERE].
4. There is an April 6th letter from Treasury to Oregon indicating that Treasury says there is more work to be done : "McArdle said Oregon's loan
underwriting is still not up to par. State staffers persist in not
determining that applicants meet all eligibility criteria".
Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.
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