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Criticism of the Obama Administration's mortgage bailout, the Home Affordable Modification Program, is reaching a fever pitch, and I know this because, among other things, the Administration itself appears to be mounting a defense. Recently, reporters who cover housing were called to the Treasury Department for a "background briefing" by Administration officials, who tried to focus attention on the many, varied Administration efforts to stabilize housing; the message was...it's not all about our modification program. Yesterday I received several emailed announcements from both HUD and the Treasury. One alerted us to a "Conference on the Future of Housing Finance," set...

<p>DALLAS - A Dallas church that has held Sunday worship service at a public housing apartment complex for the elderly for 14 years has been ordered to stop.</p> <p>Dallas Housing Authority president MaryAnn Russ told the Dallas Morning News that the church services violate separation of church and state and the agency's contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds public housing programs.</p>

Barney Frank wants Cabinet post By Bob Cusack - 09/07/09 05:07 PM ET Rep. Barney Frank is interested in capping his political career as a member of the president’s Cabinet, according to a new biography of the Financial Services Committee chairman. Frank (D-Mass.) told author Stuart Weisberg that he would like to be Housing and Urban Development secretary. However, the 69-year-old lawmaker stresses that his departure from Congress is not imminent. He first wants to pass more legislation on affordable housing, saying, “I want at least two years with President Obama and a solidly Democratic Senate so that we can...

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, in a major shift on housing policy, is abandoning George W. Bush’s vision of creating an “ownership society’’ and instead plans to pump $4.25 billion of economic stimulus money into creating tens of thousands of federally subsidized rental units in American cities. The idea is to pay for the construction of low-rise rental apartment buildings and town houses, as well as the purchase of foreclosed homes that can be refurbished and rented to low- and moderate-income families at affordable rates.

HIGH POINT -- Residents of a local public housing facility recently had to cease holding religious services there after officials told them the activities ran afoul of federal regulations. Worship services by residents of Elm Towers were in violation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules, which forbid "inherently religious activities" for organizations that receive HUD funds, according to the High Point Housing Authority. Elm Towers residents had been gathering for years on Sunday mornings and sometimes Wednesday evenings for Christian worship services led by a local minister in a common room on the first floor of the...

...Steve Kest, executive director of ACORN, was there. As well as an up and coming rabble rouser, George Goel of the National People's Action Network...Goel was the first to speak. He called for challenging people on the streets. "We need to put feet on the ground,"...When it was ACORN Executive Director Kest's turn to speak, he also said that more militant actions are going to occur. He went even more radical than Goel...

Many cities in the US’s so-called “rust belt” have been in decline for years—losing both jobs and population. Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, Michigan has proposed leveling portions of these cities in order to reach a more optimal balance between living accommodations and needs. “The idea is that rather than continuing to waste society’s resources maintaining unnecessary housing, we demolish the surplus units and move people closer together to gain economies of scale,” Kildee said. While Kildee’s focus is on cities already in a decaying state, the Obama Administration’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, sees a...

President Obama's choice for the government's No. 2 housing job is embroiled in the largest fine in U.S. history for "blatant violations" of open records laws after the Washington State Supreme Court chastised his office for withholding documents detailing taxpayer costs for a new professional football stadium in Seattle.

David Stevens, the administration's pick for an assistant secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to pass muster and his confirmation delayed as it was disclosed that the real estate brokerage he operates as chief is facing several class action lawsuits. The charges against Long & Foster, a Virginia real estate brokerage, allege that their agents steered homebuyers to affiliated mortgage and title companies, which then shared their profits with the real estate brokerage. We often advise our readers to contact a Realtor as their best source of information. Regularly we Realtors are asked for referrals to...

If you need a shining example of the utter disingenuousness of Barack Obama's commitment to government transparency, I have two words for you: Ron Sims. This lifelong political hack is to transparency what sunlight is to Dracula, what salt is to a slug, what kryptonite is to Superman, what "The View" is to intelligent debate. That is: lethal. In its press release announcing the nomination of the Seattle-area county executive to the No. 2 post at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the White House described Sims as a "visionary urban leader." The White House also touted Sims'...

In an interview with Parade Magazine, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said the most remarkable thing about climate change. As head of HUD, is climate change really your problem? We need to stop thinking in the traditional silos, the way the federal government usually thinks. We've got to stop thinking about programs and start thinking about places and how they work. The way we plan our cities, towns, and rural areas needs to change.

Newark will repair its high-rise public housing complexes for the elderly, where heat now seeps through the failing walls. Jersey City's housing authority will avoid laying off employees. Essex County will house and feed a growing population of the homeless. Money from President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package began trickling into New Jersey this week, and local governments are now weighing how to use their first doses of cash. In New Jersey, nearly $312 million will be spent on HUD programs to repair affordable housing, help the homeless, improve energy efficiency and other goals, according to the agency. The...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-014.cfm www.hud.gov/news/ For Release Wednesday February 25, 2009 HUD ALLOCATES MORE THAN $10 BILLION OF RECOVERY ACT FUNDING ONE WEEK AFTER BILL SIGNING Nearly 75 percent of HUD Recovery funds allocated today WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today allocated nearly 75 percent of its funding, or $10.1 billion, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act includes $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, 75 percent of which was allocated to recipients today - only one week after President...

The Obama administration's efforts to help struggling homeowners will aid "responsible" borrowers, not deadbeats or speculators, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said Sunday. President Barack Obama announced the plan Wednesday, saying it will help up to 9 million people keep their homes in a housing market ravaged by foreclosures. But critics, including several leading Republicans and some commentators, said the $75 billion proposal will unfairly help some people at the expense of others. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs acknowledged Friday that some people who made "bad decisions" might end up getting help under the proposal. But Donovan, Obama's secretary of housing...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is crafting a mortgage-rescue program that would see Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ease payments for hundreds of thousands of borrowers and offer a model for Wall Street to do the same, sources familiar with the plan said. Late last week, officials from the Treasury Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development worked with the companies' regulator to agree on standards for who could get relief and how they might coax other finance companies to follow their lead, said two industry sources familiar with the deliberations. Those discussions were still going on over...

(Washington, D.C. 1/15/09) President-Elect Barack Obama today made a short statement which he says proves his family is making an effort to “have some skin in the game” by moving out of a private hotel in the D.C. area and making the move to public housing. “As I said last Sunday in my interview with George Stephanopolous, I think it’s vitally important that everyone in American “have some skin in the game” and be willing to make sacrifices. That includes us.” “Our move to Washington, D.C. public housing is a sacrifice for us that will show normal, everyday Americans that...

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named New York City's housing commissioner to his Cabinet, turning to a former Clinton administration aide to help deal with an issue at the heart of the U.S. economic crisis. If confirmed by the Senate, Shaun Donovan will lead the Housing and Urban Development Department at a time when the mortgage crisis is being blamed for the financial market turmoil that has dragged the nation into a recession. Obama praised Donovan's record in New York, where he managed a $7.5 billion plan with a goal of putting a half-million New Yorkers in affordable housing. The...

As we thankfully near the end of the Nagin administration, everything seems to be falling apart at City Hall. Therefore, it is interesting that there are sources reporting this morning that Ray Nagin is being considered for the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the new Obama administration. According to one leading Democrat, Nagin is on the short list for the job because of “his experience leading New Orleans during the post-Katrina period.” While there has been significant rebuilding in New Orleans including a major revitalization of the public housing developments in the past three year, there...