LISC Launches Green Development Center to support green design, construction, and management principles in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. In its March 5 announcement, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation said the new unit will be headed up by Madeline Fraser Cook, a national expert on community-based organization green and sustainable design techniques, since 2001 with New Ecology, Inc., Vice President of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based organization since 2004. Contact: Madeline Fraser Cook, (617) 338-0411 ext. 223; Stephanie O'Keefe, (202) 739-9271.

NeighborWorks America Partnering with Fed to Help Communities Fight Foreclosures. The Federal Reserve System recently assisted NWA in identifying high-risk areas that particularly could benefit from mortgage counseling, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke mentioned in a March 4 speech at the Independent Community Bankers of America Annual Convention, Orlando, Florida. Accordingly, NeighborWorks distributed $130 million in congressionally granted funds to 32 state housing finance agencies, 82 community-based NeighborWorks organizations, and 16 counseling intermediaries around the country, he said.

IACED Member Alert on House Bill 1001. The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development is asking members to call their legislators and thank them for their support of the bill, which increases the maximum amount of the state income tax deduction for renters from $2,500 to $3,000; and increases Indiana's state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 6 percent of the federal EITC to 9 percent. Contact state senators: (317) 232-9400, (800) 382-9467; state representatives: (317) 232-9600, (800) 382-9842. IACED would also like to encourage our members to contact their local media outlets regarding this matter. IACED has drafted a model press release for members to use in media contacts. Info: Amy Merritt at IACED.

Enterprise Live Online Event: March 27 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, 90 min. "Preservation of Affordable Housing: A Strategy for Regional Equity," part of Enterprise's Regional Equity Project with the Urban Land Institute, will encourage a clear understanding of the need to preserve and improve existing affordable housing; provide a view of effective policy, technical assistance and finance efforts to ease the housing crisis; and present ways that nonprofit and other organizations can advocate effectively. Presenters: Michael Bodaken, President, National Housing Trust; David Bowers, Director, Enterprise Washington, D.C. (Info)

NeighborWorks Training Institute Featuring Foreclosure Crisis Symposium: May 5-9 in Cincinnati. The weeklong institute will include "Weathering the Storm: Stabilizing Communities in the Wake of Foreclosure" (HO907 Symposium) as well as more than 80 community development courses ranging from green building and affordable housing to neighborhood revitalization and homeownership education. Register online; by March 24 saves $50 off registration fee. Call (800) 438-5547 with any questions.

LISC's 'Getting It Done: New Tools for Communities': March 26-27 in Chicago. Sponsored by LISC Chicago, LISC Sustainable Communities, the MacArthur Foundation, and State Farm, the conference will feature workshops in the following topic areas: Community Engagement; Deal-Making; Communications; Leveraging Resources; Planning; Leading and Managing; Building Community Spirit Through Playing and Creating; Measuring and Evaluating; as well as roundtable discussions and neighborhood tours. For more info, visit the conference website or call (312) 408-2580 ext. 25.

NACEDA Summit to Feature Foreclosure Prevention Panel. NACEDA's experts will examine both the national picture and what states, with the input from CDCs, are doing to solve this crisis. On the State level, both legislative achievements and remediation efforts will be discussed. So mark the date--March 31-April 2--for NACEDA's Second Annual Capacity Building and Policy Summit, Washington, DC at the DoubleTree Hotel. Call (202) 232-7000 to reserve room--mention NACEDA Summit to receive discounted rate. (Book early to ensure a room and the rate.)

Housing Stimulus Endangered in Senate by Controversial Bankruptcy Rider sponsored by Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) and attached by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The provision, opposed by the lending industry, would alter the bankruptcy code to allow judges to modify mortgage loan provisions on primary residences for some homeowners. With the White House promising a veto, Reid reportedly is vowing to stay with the rider even if it brings defeat to the Foreclosure Prevention Act (S. 2636), which would provide $200 million for pre-foreclosure counseling and allow state housing finance officials to issue $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds to help struggling subprime borrowers and first-time homebuyers.

Budget Committees Pass FY09 Resolutions, by party line votes of 22-16 in the House on March 5 and 12-10 in the Senate on March 6. Both include provisions for the National Housing Trust Fund in a deficit-neutral manner. Both call for a reserve fund for the Affordable Housing Fund. The Senate resolution would set it up within government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) legislation. The House resolution appears to include a $1 billion advanced appropriation for the project-based Section 8 program. The Senate resolution reserves $2.8 billion for that program in FY10. It would also raise HUD community development program funding to $4 billion--$68 million more than in FY08 (inflation-adjusted), instead of $932 million less as requested by the President.

Specter Calls for Trust Fund Hearing. In a March 4 letter, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) asked Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, to hold a hearing on the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 (S. 2523), which was introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on December 19. Specter noted that constituents representing 164 Pennsylvania organizations are urging him to support the legislation, but he also expressed concern over using Federal Housing Administration funds for the NAHTF. Mitigating that concern and possibly facilitating support for the bill is an announcement from House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank (D-MA) agreeing to drop from the FHA modernization bill (H.R. 1852) a provision to reserve any increased FHA revenues as dedicated funding for the NAHTF in 2008.

Foreclosure Lawsuits Bill Reintroduced by Reps. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) and Mike Castle (R-DE) on March 11 to shield loan servicers from being sued by investors for renegotiating loans. Fear of such lawsuits reportedly has impeded loan servicers in helping troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure. The bill, a tweaked version of legislation that Castle had introduced last fall, would apply only to mortgages on owner-occupied homes, and only to loan workout plans begun before 2011. Supporters of the bill, including House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), say it will greatly reduce the risk of lawsuits, thereby removing a crucial obstacle.

LIHEAP Funding Restoration Sought. Senate Democrats are looking to reverse cuts in the $2 billion Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the main federal effort to help pay the energy costs of poor families with children. The last four years, while the President has recommended 20% cuts, fuel and energy costs have skyrocketed, according to various witnesses at a hearing before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families. LIHEAP would need $2.4 billion in FY09 inflation-adjusted funding to remain level with FY05. About 5 million households receive LIHEAP assistance each year.

Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2008 Introduced by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) on March 3. This SEVRA bill, S. 2684, is similar to the House-passed H.R. 1851. Both would implement a new voucher funding system to be in place from FY09 to FY13, simplify rent-setting and income reviews, improve rules for the project-basing of vouchers, establish fair market rents for smaller geographic areas, and study tenant rent burdens. The Senate bill, unlike the House bill, does not include significant expansion of the public housing demonstration program Moving to Work--yet, as modest expansion is expected to be included as the bill progresses. The bills also differ on rent changes and on income exemption caps for calculating rent obligations. S. 2864 was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

House Members Ask HUD to Reconsider Unilateral Changes to Resident Participation Regulations. In a March 6 letter to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), and Maxine Waters (D-CA), said HUD had been developing its own revisions to 24 CFR 964 even as it convened a focus group for input from residents. "We therefore urge you not to move forward with regulations that would in any manner limit residents' existing opportunities to be involved in the decision-making process in public housing," the letter said.

Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Act Introduced on March 7 by Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY). S. 2736 would reform the Section 202 program to increase construction and preservation housing and facilitate conversion of units to affordable assisted living. The House passed its Section 202 bill, H.R. 2930, on December 5 and referred it the next day to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

RESPA Reforms Proposed by HUD, hoping to require lenders to make good-faith estimates that would save borrowers nearly $700 in a transaction, the agency claims. HUD's plan also would give it authority to penalize violators of various Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act sections, and enable itself and state regulators to seek relief for RESPA violations and to draft a statute of limitations applying to public and private actions.

Small Business Administration Programs Would Be Boosted by Resolution proposed in the Senate on March 14 by Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND). Funding would increase by $100 million beyond the Bush administration's FY 2009 budget request for SBA capital, entrepreneurial development, and outreach programs, as well as contracting programs and assistance. After a March 6 meeting with top-ranking White House and national banking officials, Kerry ridiculed the administration's efforts as too late to help small businesses facing hard economic times. "If this administration was serious about helping small businesses, they would have held this meeting before Congress considered the economic stimulus package and they would have put the weight of the White House behind the initiatives I've been advocating to make loans more affordable," he said.

Appalachian Regional Commission's $8M Increase Eliminated in FY09 Budget Request from the White House, which would return ARC to its FY07 level after the bump provided in the omnibus bill passed in December for FY08. All the funding would be for non-highway activities, as was the case last year.

Pennsylvania Senate Approves, House Considers Mortgage Reform Bills. Passed by the Senate last week, the legislation would require licensing of mortgage originators, make more loans subject to protection under Act 6, and further empower the Banking Department on enforcement, among other reforms. The six-bill package had been introduced in both houses in similar form after their drafting by the Banking Department, following a mortgage foreclosure study prepared by The Reinvestment Fund.

New Jersey Assembly to Consider Foreclosure Legislation. State Senator Ronald Rice (D), introduced legislation to address the state's widening foreclosure crisis. The legislation provides for a six-month moratorium on defaulted loans to allow borrowers time to work towards a more favorable solution. It also creates a fund for foreclosure prevention counseling.

Census Atlas with Housing Maps presenting data from 1790 through 2000, most showing county-level detail, available for free online or for $165.00 from the U.S. Government Printing Office or 1-866-512-1800 (toll free).

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Finds Problems with HUD Funding Levels. To maintain current assistance for many low-income families, elderly, and people with disabilities, Congress would need to grant $6.5 billion more than the Administration's request for HUD, according to the CBPP.

UNCG Creating Institute for Community and Economic Engagement, which in its early stages already has power to conduct oversight of the outreach program in community and economic development for the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. The institute will incorporate the university's Economic Development Strategic Initiatives from 2007-2010 as well as suggestions in UNC Tomorrow, from a commission that charged the state's universities with developing plans as recommended.

People with Disabilities Constitute Much More of Worst Housing Cases Than Estimated by HUD: 35-40%, rather than 9-12%, of the country's 6 million such households, according to The Hidden Housing Crisis: Worst Case Housing Needs Among Non-Elderly Adults With Disabilities from the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force. According to a recent HUD supplemental report, Housing Needs of Persons with Disabilities, disabled non-elderly worst-case renter households in 2005 numbered 1.1 million--more than double the original estimate in its Affordable Housing Needs 2005 report--based on methodological improvement prompted by the CCD-HTF research.

HUD Enters Research Contract to Study Rents and Rent Flexibility, the agency announced on February 27. The notice solicited comments (due April 28) on the approach, scope and substance of the research, which will be conducted by Abt Associates and Applied Real Estate Analysis Inc. They will review possible reforms and alternative rent structures to the current income-based approach for calculating rental subsidies in the public housing and voucher programs.

HUD Accountants Roster: Independent public accountants proposed to perform audits for PHAs, owners of Section 8 project-based housing and HUD-financed multi-family projects, and others. Due date: April 7. See Federal Register, 2/6/08, pp. 7169-77 or http://www.regulations.gov. Contact Elizabeth Hanson, HUD, 1-888-245-4860.

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