Rural Housing SF Loan Program Change Would Increase Fees to Borrowers, Eliminate Current Subsidy, and Allow Program Expansion.

CBO Cost estimate for changes to RHS 502 single family program, which is projected to run out of money in May, is HERE.

Thomas link to bill, H.R. 5017, that would make changes that CBO has now scored is HERE.

Changed program would increase fees to borrowers to remove current subsidy and allow program expansion:

For fiscal year 2010, RHS received an appropriation of $173 million, which the agency expects will cover the cost of about $12 billion in loan guarantees. According to RHS, that subsidy appropriation will be exhausted in May 2010. Enacting this legislation would change the terms of the loan guarantee program such that it would no longer have an estimated cost to the government under FCRA accounting, but would result in a small savings (by increasing offsetting collections).....
Under this legislation, the cap on annual premiums for the RHS single-family program would increase from 2 percent to 4 percent of the loan amount. According to RHS, the agency expects that it would charge borrowers an up-front premium equal to 3.44 percent of their loan amounts under this new authority. Based on information from RHS, CBO estimates that increasing the up-front premium to this level would lower the estimated subsidy rate for the program from 1.44 percent to -0.06 percent. CBO estimates, based on information from RHS, that about $12 billion in additional loan guarantees would be made during the remainder of 2010 assuming that authority is provided in a supplemental appropriations bill within the next few months. Therefore,CBO estimates that implementing the bill would result in offsetting collections of $7 million in 2010. Because the value of the fees collected by GNMA is estimated to exceed the cost of loan defaults in each year, the Administration estimates that the GNMA mortgage-backed securities (MBS) program will have a subsidy rate of -0.24 percent in 2010, resulting in net receipt collections to the federal government. CBO estimates that about 60 percent of the new loan guarantees made by RHS under this legislation would be included in GNMA=s MBS program. Thus, CBO estimates that under the bill, the GNMA mortgage backed securities program would realize an increase of about $17 million in offsetting collections in 2010.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Wow, That Was Quick: House Passes Omnibus FY 2010 Spending Bill.

Was one hour of debate on Thursday AM. Doesn't look like single Republican voted for the bill.

Bill will now move to Senate for action.

Bill web site is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Update:Breaking: FY 2010 HUD Appropriations Conference Report Language.

Update: I pulled out the Oregon HUD Congressional directed (AKA earmark ) funding from conference report. Three projects, $1.3 million:

Salem, Mill Creek employment center, pg 239, $500,000
Coos Bay, dock equipment, pg 254, $340,900
Pendleton rodeo facilities, pg 254, $487,000
Total $1,327,900

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On a VERY preliminary basis it appears that there MAY be agreement on a conference committee versions of the HUD -Transportation appropriations bill that is part of a larger omnibus appropriations bill.

Appears that Conference Report and Bill may be introduced in House at noon today; full House and Senate consideration will be required before Bill can be signed into law. I would expect usual delays because of amendments and Senate logjam.

Document HERE should open to the HUD Section of the bill conference committee explanation.(Summary table of HUD amounts runs from PDF pages 283-296).

Actual legislative language is HERE, HUD Section starts at page 114, ends at page 212.

(Both conference report and bill links above include handwritten comments, mark outs etc. Eventually cleaner versions of both will appear at Thomas website for bill (H.R. 3288); link is HERE).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

National Low Income Housing Coalition Opposes HUD's Proposed Choice Neighborhhood Replacement for HOPE VI in FY 2010 Budget.

NLIHC's Memo to Members HERE provides a good summary of the Administration's proposal, and a summary of related provisions in House and Senate HUD Appropriations bills for FY 2010.

Because Choice Neighborhood proposal were NOT subject to hearings in HUD authorizing committees in Congress, and because of incomplete details of the proposed program, NLIHC has written to Congressional appropriators that they do NOT support inclusion of Choice Neighborhoods program in FY 2010 HUD appropriations.

I agree with the NLIHC position.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Final FY 2010 FMR's Published: My Excel Comparison Spreadsheet Suggestion Not Adopted.

HUD has published the Final version of FY 2010 Fair Market Rents, effective October 1st.

The Federal Register publication is HERE; I expect different formats to become available shortly on the HUD FMR main page HERE.

Some observations:

1. Oregon final FMR's did NOT change from the proposed version I had earlier posted HERE.
2. HUD did act on my suggestion to show FMR differences , but ONLY in the individual area documentation (that most people don't read). My suggestion of a single Excel worksheet showing the change in FMR's for all areas was NOT adopted. My suspicion is that HUD HQS staff are afraid to allow users to compare FMR's and $$ and percent changes between areas.
3. While I was not surprised to see HUD's rejection of an Excel comparison spreadsheet, it was more disappointing to me that only one of my blog subscribers took the 5 minutes require to provide supporting comments on my proposal for a single Excel comparison worksheet. With the amount of free information I make available to subscribers and the clear benefits from a single Excel workbook, I was hoping that more than one subscriber would have responded to my request for supportive comments.
4. When time permits I will publish an Excel worksheet version of the Final FMR's.
   

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Senate Provisions in FY 2010 HUD Appropriations Bill a Problem for HOPE VI.

Senate provisions in the FY 2010 appropriations bill may be a problem for potential HOPE VI grantees. While the House bill provides $250 million for the HOPE VI program, the Senate bill provides a TOTAL of $250 million for the Choice Neighborhoods program, and a set aside for public housing authorities of only $165 Million, a 33% cut from the House level. (Choice Neighborhoods includes revitalization of HUD multifamily properties, not just public housing).

The Choice Neighborhoods provision can be found on page 99 (starting at line 20) of the Senate passed bill HERE. The HOPE VI grant provisions in the House bill can be found on page 87 (also starting at line 20) of the House passed bill HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD FY 2010 Senate Passed Version of Appropriations Bill.

Is HERE, HUD Section (Title II) starts at PDF page 83.
Earlier House passed version is HERE.
House and Senate will now conference to produce a final bill.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Senate Passes HUD FY 2010 Appropriations Bill

Bill passed on Thursday afternoon.

Were a few amendments included, but doesn't appear that there were major changes. House and Senate will now move to conference, still a chance bill could get enacted by end of FY, but equally possible that short term continuing resolution may be required.

Bill page is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Update 2: Merkley Joins Dodd in Intro of Livable Communities Act.

Update 2: Bill text is NOW available HERE.

Update 1: Bill number is S. 1619, but text not yet available at Thomas. Will add a link once bill text is available.


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In order for HUD to pay for planned sustainable housing programs (including transit oriented development) as proposed in the FY 2010 budget, Congressional/Presidential approval of such a program needs to occur via authorizing language.

Senator Dodd has introduced a bill that would accomplish this, along with Senator Merkley as one of several co-sponsors.

Press Release is HERE (I don't yet see a bill number but when I find it I will update this post). News story is HERE.

Senate Version of HUD Appropriations Bill Now Ready for Consideration by Full Senate.

The Senate version of the HUD/DOT FY 2010 appropriations bill (H.R. 3288) approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee is now ready HERE for consideration by the full Senate.

The related Senate Committee report 111-069 (which includes details, as well as earmarks) is HERE. [HUD (Title II) begins on page 111; HUD earmarks start on page 204; and summary table of HUD Budget is on pages 227-232].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Good Summary of 09 Voucher Funding Issues from NLIHC.

In their weekly Memo to Members, HERE.

Senate Appropriations Committee Marks Up HUD/DOT FY 2010 Appropriations Bill.

Thursday afternoon, The Senate Appropriations Committee completed mark up of the FY 2010 HUD/DOT Appropriations bill. The summary from the HUD/DOT Subcommittee is HERE.

Round-Up Gets Only HUD Oregon Earmark in Bill.
"Congressionally Directed Spending" , AKA EARMARKS listing is HERE. Only HUD Oregon earmark I saw was $500k Economic Development Initiative grant for construction and reconstruction of facilities for the Pendelton Round-Up.

Bill will now move forward for consideration by the full Senate. Currently no bill number or Committee report is available, so not possible to compare to House passed version. More in the coming days as those details become available.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

House Passes HUD/Transportation FY 2010 Appropriations Bill.

Well, THAT must be some kind of record for a HUD Appropriations bill!

Less than a day after House Rules Committee finished action, the full House acted tonight (EDT) on the HUD FY 2010 Appropriations Bill.

A series of Republican amendment and procedural delays (one delay required the House Clerk to read out loud a 50+ page bill amendment) were beaten back and
H.R. 3288 was passed (with at least 16 Republican votes) by a vote of 256-168.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

House HUD Appropriations Bill Now Ready for House Consideration; My Initial Review of Bill.

Bill now has a bill number, H.R. 3288. [ With rule now approved, bill can now be considered by House, from a quick look at C-SPAN it appears that consideration could begin at any time].

A side by side comparison of HUD funding vs prior year and budget request begins on pg. 430 of the Committee report.

Some initial observations after scanning the Committee report: (any page references are to PDF page numbers,in the Committee report, not printed page numbers).

1. HUD Counseling Request Reduced, Focus to be on Prepurchase (p.158).HUD counseling funding request was reduced by $30 million (from $100 m to $70 m) and is to be focused on prepurchase counseling; post purchase/foreclosure counseling to be led by Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. NRC was funded at $63.8 m for those activities.
   
2. Rental Housing Funding Increased by $1.2 B (P.160; P. 165; p.190). Major accounts for rental housing were increased from budget request. Tenant based vouchers +$406 m; public housing operating fund +$200 m; project based rental assistance +$600 m
   
3. Transformation Initiative Fund Request Sources Cut in Half (p.204). HUD has proposed using 1% of wide variety of accounts for a Transformation Initiative Fund which would have provided up to $433 million. House eliminated use of voucher and public housing as sources, effectively reducing maximum funding by $209 m, a 52% reduction.
4. Energy Innovation Funding Request Cut in Half(p.195). From $100 m to $50 m. Eliminates the proposed local initiatives energy innovation fund, says focus instead on reducing energy costs in subsidized housing
5. HOME Increased by $175 m (p. 188).
   
6. Sustainable Communities Fully Funded @ $150 M. (p.172)."... $100,000,000 shall be for Regional Planning Grants to support the linking of transportation and land use planning: ...$40,000,000 shall be for Metropolitan Challenge Grants to foster reform and reduce barriers to achieve affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities: .... up to $10,000,000 shall be for a joint Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Transportation research effort that shall include a rigorous evaluation of the Regional Planning Grants and Metropolitan Challenge Grants programs." Comment: Committee says they want DOT to pony up their share of this joint DOT/HUD effort, but I didn't see any requirement on the DOT side of this bill. (If Committee really wanted this to happen wouldn't they fund it on DOT side since bill also covers DOT?).
7. No Oregon Earmarks. Long lists but I didn't see any Oregon earmarks.
8. HOPE VI Increased from Request by $250 m; Choice Neighborhoods Not Funded, but Door Left Open. (p. 166). "Should the [Choice Neighborhoods] Initiative be approved by the relevant authorizing committees before the fiscal year 2010 budget is enacted, the Committee will adjust accordingly."
   
9. FHA/GSE Loan Limits Increased: FHA language follows from actual bill not conference report, GSE language is similar. "Sec. 233. FHA Loan Limits for fiscal year 2010. (a) LOAN LIMIT FLOOR BASED ON 2008 LEVELS- For mortgages for which the mortgagee issues credit approval for the borrower during fiscal year 2010, if the dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of a mortgage determined under section 203(b)(2) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(2)) for any size residence for any area is less than such dollar amount limitation that was in effect for such size residence for such area for 2008 pursuant to section 202 of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-185; 122 Stat. 620), notwithstanding any other provision of law, the maximum dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of a mortgage for such size residence for such area for purposes of such section 203(b)(2) shall be considered (except for purposes of section 255(g) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20(g))) to be such dollar amount limitation in effect for such size residence for such area for 2008."

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Seeking $800 Million for FHA: But Says it's For Losses on Reverse Mortgages.

Interesting WaPo story HERE.

I had been wondering what happened when the "E" was diminished in the HECM (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage) program.

Likely will be more to come once full budget documents and appropriations hearings begin.

Editorial Comment: As someone only a few months away from being able to qualify for a HECM loan, I just wonder: In this budget environment, do seniors really need another [indirect] subsidy for seniors, especially when the higher the HECM loan value, the higher the subsidy?

FY 2010 Budget Released, In Dribs and Drabs.

OMB is getting a bit too clever for my taste in releasing the FY 2010 budget materials in pieces.

HERE is the 64 page HUD budget section of today's release of Appendix portion of budget; all agency Appendix information is HERE.

131 page "Terminations, Reductions, and Savings" (for all Agencies) Is HERE; Only HUD program listed is Brownfields Economic Development Initiative.

The "Analytical Perspectives" piece and other spreadsheets normally released at same time will not be released for a few days.

HUD Congressional Justifications, with great detail, usually take even longer to be posted to the web.

FY 2010: HUD Discretionary Budget Authority Up 18%, But Then Only Up 2% More in FY 2014.

I put together a quick table using data from the FY 2010 Budget Overlook document.

HUD gets a significant boost from FY 2009-2010 to $47.5 Billion, but only another 2% by FY 2014.

Take a look HERE.

(I think detailed budget documents may not be released until April).

HUD FY 10 Budget, Includes $1 Billion for Trust Fund, Full CDBG.

Omnibus FY 09 appropriations bill passed yesterday in the House, and now moves to Senate.

Meanwhile, back at the pass, the FY 2010 budget was introduced today. They are kinda slow with the release of full details , but the "overview" sales pitch has been released and can be found HERE. HUD Section is on pages 73-75; Highlights

• Provides full funding for the Community Development Block Grant program at $4.5 billion. In addition, the Budget reforms the program’s formula to better target economically distressed communities. The program will also stimulate innovations in metropolitan sustainability, university partnerships, and rural housing and economic development.
• Provides $1 billion to capitalize and launch an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that will develop, rehabilitate, and preserve affordable housing targeted to very-low income households. The Fund will help to prevent homelessness and strengthen families.
• Increases funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program, which likewise makes housing affordable to very low-income households. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will also introduce legislative reforms to address the program’s costly inefficiencies.
• Enables the Department to preserve approximately 1.3 million affordable rental units through increased funding for the Department’s assisted multifamily properties.
• Combats mortgage fraud and predatory loans. The Budget funds enhanced enforcement of fairhousing, mortgage disclosure, and settlement requirements.
• Creates a new Energy Innovation Fund to catalyze private sector investment in the energy
• efficiency of the Nation’s housing stock.
• Creates a new Choice Neighborhoods Initiative to make a range of transformative investments in high-poverty neighborhoods where public and assisted housing is concentrated.
• Eliminates funding for ineffective and duplicative programs, including the Section 108 Community Development Loan Guarantees program and the American Dream Downpayment Initiative.

Much more to follow once documents become available.