New Oregon Non Profit Sector Report.

Report is HERE. Portland Business Journal story is HERE.

Report says 246 Housing and Shelter non profits represent 2% of all non profits in state.

Report uses as one source, Oregon Employment Department Labor Trends report from October 2011 HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Long Delayed South Waterfront Affordable Housing Project To Take Step Forward this Week.

Daily Journal of Commerce story is HERE; actual development agreement referenced in the story is HERE.  From news story:

REACH Community Development will develop the project and relocate its offices and 50 employees to the building’s ground floor...The building will be 6 stories tall. Out of 209 housing units there, 42 will be leased to homeless veterans. The remaining units will be available to people making between 0 and 50 percent of the median family income.

(I am guessing that the 42 units of housing for homeless veterans may  use project based HUD vouchers, or another type of HUD funded HAP administered rent subsidy program, using their Moving to Work authority).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Corrected: Oregon On Banquet Big Success: Thanks to Board for Transparency Award.

Correction: It was Robin BOYCE presenting award.....

Last week Oregon On held their annual banquet and awards presentation with guest speaker Senator Jeff Merkley. 

Oregon On's recap of the event, with more than 450 in attendance, is HERE.

I attended the event and was able to connect with a lot of old friends and colleagues (I'm old, not them).  

I was also very fortunate to receive a Transparency award from the Oregon On board for the work of the Oregon Housing Blog, and to have it presented by Robin Boyce, the XO of the Housing Development Center, where I also serve as a Board member.   

THANKS to the Oregon On Board and Robin for the much appreciated award and to all the  Oregon On staff and volunteers who put on such a successful event.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

OHCS Provides Non Profit Bylaws and Participation Agreement, Contract Still Pending.

Got a timely response to my request for documents related to Oregon Hardest Hit non profit.  

OHCS has provided the non profit by laws HERE and a copy of the participation agreement with Treasury HERE.   

OHCS staff indicates that their contract with non profit is  still pending, as is the future meeting schedule for the non profit.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Updated: Oregon Hardest Hit Program Approved, But Not Underwater Mortgage Component.

 Update: Just to be clear the two county program not authorized in the Treasury approved plan that I referred to as the underwater borrower program was called the "Loan Refinancing Assistance" in the plan originally submitted to Treasury:

"Loan Refinancing Assistance is a pilot project designed to allow OHCS to target homeowners with deeply “underwater” mortgages in two Oregon counties where home values have declined more than 25 percent.

------------------------

OHCS PR is HERE.

The four programs that WERE approved are listed HERE. (The underwater borrower program for Jackson and Deschutes counties was not approved.  I expect OHCS will continue to pursue getting approval for this program, and I do not know how or IF this will impact program allocations in the interim).

The apparently approved version of the plan is HERE.

FAQ's are HERE. (I say apparent because even though document is dated June 1st, I did not see the underwater program listed in this version of the document).

Now that the plan has been approved, I will be asking for additional documents from OHCS, including the by laws for the new non profit, the participation agreement with Treasury, and the contract between OHCS and the non profit.  I will also be checking to see if there is a regular schedule of meeting dates for the new non profit.

Congrats to OHCS for getting to this important milestone, now the real work begins...

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Hardest Hit New HFA Non Profits: Activities Should be Limited to Single Purpose, Meetings/ Records Subject to Public Meetings/Records Law, With Any Residual Funds Reverted to Housing Trust Funds.

Several states receiving Hardest Hit TARP funding will be forming non profits to administer the program, responding to the Treasury requirement that the recipient cannot be a state agency, and must be an “eligible entity”.  

A review of the two sets of draft organizational documents available from the first round Hardest Hit funded states, Michigan and California, reveals a scope of planned activities that

1. Far exceeds the single function of administering the Hardest Hit TARP funds.

2. Includes virtually no commitment to the transparency required by public agencies.

3. Provides for different use of any remaining receipts when the Hardest Hit Program winds down.

Why Housing Advocates May be Concerned:

1. Open meeting laws and open record laws do NOT apply to new HFA non profits; an expanded scope of activities for new HFA non profits to include current functions would REDUCE transparency of existing operations.
2. Expanded activities of a new State non- profit could threaten operations of existing housing non profits.
3. Proceeds remaining after the Hardest Hit program winds down are not uniformly being targeted to housing trust funds or existing affordable housing programs.

Background:

The lack of transparency in TARP funding is well documented. Plans for spending Hardest Hit TARP funding are no exception—in most cases they were developed without significant public disclosure, without ANY advance posting of the actual plans submitted to the Treasury. (So far, I am pleased to say that has NOT been the case in Oregon, and I look forward to the posting of the actual Oregon draft plan for public comment prior to submission to Treasury, including the non profit bylaws and articles of incorporation).

This process, as well as ongoing behind the scenes negotiation of changes with Treasury, raises the real possibility that state HFA’s MAY be using this new funding to move activities subject to public scrutiny via open meeting and records laws to within the purview of a NEW nonprofit that would NOT be subject to the same public disclosure standards. In addition the NEW activities planned for HFA non profits could pose a threat to the operations of existing non profits.  

Recommended Solutions/Outcomes:
In the two page table HERE I have extracted relevant sections of the California and Michigan hardest hit plans that illustrate these points, as well as MY suggestions about DESIRED outcomes:

1. To focus the scope of HFA non profit activities on a single purpose.
2. To Insure HFA non profit transparency.
3. To insure priority uses of any residual HFA non profit hardest hit funds.

[NOTE: Format of table is LEGAL sized landscape; California and Michigan column headers have page links to their actual draft non profit organizational materials found within state hardest hit plans I have previously posted].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Audio/Video: Two Additional HUD FY 2011 Budget Briefings.

HUD has now posted the video of FY 2011 budget briefings on their web cast budget archive web site HERE.

For those who want to download video or audio of those briefings, I have created video and audio files that include presentations and questions and answers (Video files are posted on Internet Archive in a variety of formats, audio files are MP3 format). NOTE: Both audio and video files are LARGE, so insure you have a broadband connection.

• Budget Town Hall with HUD Secretary Donovan (held Feb. 1, 2010). Audio; Video
• Capacity Building (held Feb.3,2010 ).Audio; Video

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Nov 5th Enterprise Foundation Webinar: Year 15 -- Nonprofit Transfer Strategies for Expiring LIHTC Properties.

Registration information is HERE. Note session starts at 11 AM our time (PST).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Right Wing Group Files HUD Freedom of Information Lawsuit Seeking ACORN Information.

Filing from Judicial Watch is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Anti ACORN Legislation Might Also Prohibit Business with Some Defense Contractors.

File this under "Proposed Laws with Unintended Consequences".

Huffington Post item is HERE.

Portland Suburban Housing Non Profit Goes Under.

From last Thursday's Oregonian, story HERE says Tualatin Valley Housing Partners in Washington County is closing its doors. (Story doesn't provide much detail about who will be acquiring their existing seven apartment projects).

Audio from House Financial Services Markup of Non Profit Down Payment Assistance Bill.

House Financial Services Committee markup hearing was held yesterday of bill that would reinstate non profit gift down payment assistance programs, now due to go out of business October 1st.  

Bill now will move to full House for consideration. (See my prior "Chucky" post below).

MP3 audio of section of the hearing dealing with this subject is HERE; its about 35 minutes long.

Like Chucky, FHA Non Profit Down Payment "Gift "Programs Refuse to Die.

WSJ story HERE details last minute efforts to bring back FHA non profit down payment "gift" programs now scheduled to die on October 1st. Apparent effort is to keep programs in exchange for FHA being able to use some form of risk based premiums, now scheduled for one year moratorium starting Oct. 1.

A House Financial Services Sub Committee hearing on FHA non profit gift program bill is now apparently scheduled for next Tuesday; bill number for bill that would bring back non profit down payment "gift" programs is H.R. 6694 and Thomas website for the bill is HERE.

My priot post with state details on higher claims rates for these non profit down payment "gift" programs is HERE.

FHA Non Profit Down Payments Knocked Down, But Not Yet Down for the Count?

The Housing Reform bill (H.R. 3221) passed by both the House and the Senate will kill programs by which non profits funded down payment"gifts" to home buyers using FHA mortgage insurance home purchase programs.

WSJ story on history and demise of these programs is HERE.

However, Financial Services Chair Frank indicated yesterday during consideration of H.R. 3221 that the cut off date for these programs will not be until October 1st, AND there will be an attempt to create a stand alone piece of legislation in the interim that could resurrect revised non profit down payment assistance programs.

Flash Video from C-Span HERE, features CA. Rep Maxine Walters talking about the bill , and then Chair Frank makes his additional comments related to non profit down payments.

Two Down Payment Assistance Non Profits Spent $2.3 Million on Lobbying Since 2003.

This morning I used the Open Secrets lobbying website to see how much two of the major FHA non profit down payment assistance providers have spent on lobbying in recent years.

Open Secrets data shows that these two non profits spent $2.3 Million on federal lobbying since 2003.

My search for Nehemiah non profit turned up that they have operated under several different organizational names over the last several years, while Ameridream Inc. has not changed its organization name during that period.

The table HERE shows lobbying costs by year (Note that for 2008 the costs are partial only and likely do NOT include recent lobbying costs). The link to the name of each organization is back to the Open Secret search for that organization; once the page opens you can choose a different year to confirm the totals for a different year.

New FHA State Level Data: Non Profit Down Payment Loan Claims Rates 2.9 Times That of Loans Without Non Profit Down Payment Assistance.

HUD/FHA has long struggled to control the use of non profit "gift" fund programs that help pay borrowers make down payments on FHA home purchase loans. Aggressive non profit marketing and lobbying have until now tied the hands of a variety of HUD secretaries going back many years, despite substantial evidence that loans with non profit down payments had much higher claims/foreclosure rates. (See HUD Inspector General 2007 testimony HERE recounting some of that history and prior data).

The current Administration has threatened a veto of any housing reform bill that does not include provisions allowing HUD to control the use of these non profit down payment "gift" programs. The Administration has also reopened a rule for comment that would administratively eliminate the use of these programs; this follows a lawsuit that HUD lost based on it's failure to follow proper administrative rule making procedures.

As part of this reopened rule making HUD has posted detailed information about FHA home purchase loans from FY 2000-FY 2007. I have previously used that information to post state overall state and regional claims information HERE.

Today, this post provides a detailed analysis of claims information for more than 2.1 million FHA home purchase loans for the 5 years from FY 2003-2007. The principal focus is a comparison of loans with non profit down payment assistance to loans that did NOT use non profits to fund borrower down payments. Graphs and extensive tables are included in the 13 page PDF file posted HERE.

Key findings for of this analysis of FHA home purchase loans from FY 2003-2007:

1. Loans that had non profit funded down payments had claims rates 2.9 times (190% higher) than the claims rate for loans that did NOT use non profit funds for the down payment. In Oregon the ratio was even higher. Loans with non profit down payments resulted in claims 3.5 times (250% higher) than the rate of loans that did NOT have non profit funded down payments.
   
2. The claims rate for loans with non profit funded down payments was 7.2%; for those without non profit down payments it was 2.5%. In Oregon, claims rates for non profit down payment loans were 3.1%, and without non profit down payments .9%
   
3. Non profit down payment funded loans accounted for 27% of all home purchase loans, but a much greater 52% of all claims.
   
4. The highest non profit down payment claims rate was in Colorado at 13.3%. The claims rate in Colorado for loans without non profit down payment funding was 4.9%.
   
5. If the claims rate for loans WITHOUT non profit down payments had been achieved for ALL loans, the number of claims would have been reduced by 34%, or 28,000+ fewer claims.
6. If HUD/FHA losses per claim were $50,000 (an amount that is likely understated), the losses to the FHA insurance fund for these additional 28,000 claims would exceed $1.4 BILLION.

Oregon FHA Home Loan Purchase Loans 2003-2007: Claims Rates.

Using HUD provided data, I have extracted FHA home purchase loan claim rate information for Oregon FHA loans endorsed during the 5 years from FY 2003-FY 2007. ["Claims" occurr when HUD/FHA pays an insurance claim to the lender, generally when a foreclosure has occurred; "Home Purchases" exclude refinances and HECM loans].

I have prepared the one page PDF HERE, that summarizes claims rates by minority status, by FICO credit score ranges, by loan to value ratio, and by the source of down payment.

Of particular note is the low claims rate that the data shows for home purchases in Oregon--only 1.35%. This is likely substantially below FHA claims rates nationwide for the same period. (Will I look at that later? You betcha!)

Non Profit Down Payment Source Claims Rate 3.6 Times the Claim Rate of Other Down Payment Sources.
Note that by source of down payment, loans where the source of the down payment was non profit "gift funds" there was a claims rate of 3%, while loans that used all other sources for down payment had a claims rate of .8%. The non profit claims rate calculates out to 3.6 times the claims rate when the source of down payment came from either the borrower, the employer, or family.

Oregon Housing Organizations Get New Search Tool.

Please DO send this along to others....

Have you ever wanted to restrict a housing related search in Google just to key housing related organizations in Oregon?

Well, now you can with a newly constructed search tool I have put together called ORHOUSE. (ORHOUSE is an acronym for Oregon Housing Organizations User Search Engine).

With ORHOUSE I believe Oregon will be the FIRST state nationwide to have an information tool that searches multiple websites of key housing organizations within a state.

ORHOUSE was developed using Google’s custom search capability. ORHOUSE search results will be restricted to just those returned from the websites of the nearly 40 housing related organizations in Oregon I have initially chosen for the search. (I will provide a complete listing of those websites once the software moves out of its current BETA stage and I finalize the list. For now suffice it to say that includes most local HUD entitlement community development agencies, several larger housing authorities, HUD, three agencies of the State of Oregon, and non profits from around the state).

HOW TO USE ORHOUSE: The tool can be accessed by going to my Oregon Housing Blog at www.oregonhousing.blogspot.com and search using the ORHOUSE box provided near the top right hand corner of the blog. (PLEASE subscribe to the blog via email [it’s free] to get this and other updates automatically delivered to your email).

Important search tip: Unlike the regular Google search function we are familiar with, if you are searching for a PHRASE, put quote marks around it. I.E. “Affordable Housing” NOT Affordable Housing.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT: ORHOUSE is in a BETA stage of development.

I will be working with others who may be interested in being listed as a ORHOUSE affiliate AND then if they choose, permission from me to add this search tool to their own home pages. I will also be soliciting user feedback on ways to improve the scope and precisions of searches and wil also be providing FAQ’s at a later date.

ORHOUSE isn't intended to replace typical global Google type searches. It is a supplement to those searches when you want to focus more on what is going on within Oregon.While ORHOUSE is in a BETA stage of development it is already a powerful way of finding out what others in Oregon are doing and saying about a wide variety of housing news, issues, and policies of importance throughout the state.

Give ORHOUSE a try and let me know what you think by adding a comment at the bottom of this post.(If you want to send a non public comment to me, please email me at housepdx@gmail.com).

Thanks, Tom Cusack
http://www.oregonhousing.blogspot.com