Joint Oregon Senate and House Revenue and Finance Committee Meeting Nov. 19th. to Include Housing Topics.

Have added this Wednesday Nov. 19th. item to blog calendar at bottom of page, includes room number.

December economic and revenue forecast is first item on agenda at 8:30 AM.

Housing to follow from 10-11 A.M.Housing topics:

• Update on Use of Affordable Housing Lenders Credit
• Implications of Recent Federal Actions
• 2009 Issues

PDF of agenda is HERE.

State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group Urges Sub Prime Loan Modifications.

Letter from members of the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group HERE to subprime lenders urges them to adopt loan modifications along the lines of those recently negotiated with Bank of America (on Countrywide loans).

Note that membership on State Foreclosure Prevention Group includes both attorney generals and two state banking regulators.

Up to now Oregon has not been a member of the Working Group, perhaps new Attorney General will join after election next month?

[A link to the Conference of State Banking Supervisors, host to the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, has been added to links pane in right side of blog.]

Oregon Progress Board: Revise Homeownership Rate Goal Data Source but Defers New Target Until ?

The Oregon Progress Board has revised the state home ownership data source to the American Community Survey, acknowledging that prior reported Oregon Population Survey rates were about 2% higher than ACS data.

However, in revising the source of the data, the Progress Board has also eliminated the prior home ownership rate goals of 70% for 2005 and 72% in 2010, adding that"targets are not proposed at this time"

Progress Board summary of the revision is HERE.

Notes:

1. The change in this measurement has been approved by the Progress Board Assessment Committee--it may be that the full Progress Board has to ratify that decision at their next meeting, scheduled for October 23rd. (Agenda for that meeting is not yet posted).
2. New ACS data on housing is scheduled for release in late September.

3 States: "Countrywide, We Ain't on Your Side".

Interesting story HERE from WSJ on three state legal actions actions against Countrywide; one of states is Washington.

Washington charges are HERE; California's HERE, and Illinois complaint is HERE

New Pew Charitable Trusts Report on 50 State Foreclosure Efforts.

A new report HERE from the Pew Charitable Trusts Center on the States was published today reporting on efforts in all 50 states to deal with mortgage foreclosures.

State by state PDF factsheets are included in the report.

The Oregon fact sheet is HERE; the fact sheet for Washington is HERE; and the fact sheet for Idaho is HERE.

Oregon Data Sheet Doesn't Include '08 Legislation:
The Pew report data appears to be as of end of 2007 as the Oregon fact sheet reports that Oregon was one of only 9 states to have not taken action by that time. However, there was modest foreclosure related Oregon legislation that DID pass during the the special 2008 Oregon legislative session. That legislation is summarized, and links to legislative language are included, on the Oregon DCBS, Division and Finance and Corporate Securities web page HERE.

Ted Got ALL of Subprime Lender Ameriquest's Oregon Political Contributions: $20,000+.

WSJ ran a terrific story HERE on the state level political donations of the now defunct subprime lender Ameriquest Mortgage. Oregon state politicians were listed as receiving more than $20,000 from Ameriquest.

I went back to the WSJ source, the National Institute on Money in Politics and dug out who got the Ameriquest Mortgage donations, HERE.

Surprise , Surprise: Governor Ted Kulongoski was the sole recipient of the Ameriquest money, $20,502 to be exact.

I suspect Ted has got some 'splaining to do....