HUD Publishes Final Fair Market Rents for FY2011 – October 13, 2010
Please click here to view the 2011 HUD Fair Market Rents.
Click here for Massachusetts Fair Market Rents.
Dept. of Energy Announces New Regulations to Facilitate Weatherizing Subsidized Affordable Housing – January 25, 2010
From the National Housing Trust – The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced new regulations that will help improve the energy efficiency and livability of HUD, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and USDA assisted apartments by minimizing barriers to the participation of these homes in the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). As outlined in a final rule released today, DOE has concluded that hundreds of thousands of subsidized apartments meet certain WAP eligibility requirements without the need for further evaluation or verification by the state WAP administering agency or local subgrantee. In doing so, DOE has significantly reduced the burden of evaluating WAP applications for these multifamily properties.
The National Housing Trust has prepared a summary of DOE’s final rule. Click here for the summary.
The final rule amends the eligibility provisions of the Weatherization Assistance Program so that certain properties identified by HUD and USDA will be considered automatically income eligible for the program without further evaluation and verification.
In addition, DOE has clarified that administering state agencies can take into consideration benefits other than reduced utility costs when ensuring that weatherization benefits accrue primarily to tenants. As a model, DOE cited the State of Washington’s policy recognizing that preserved low-income housing, added comfort, and environmental health benefits as a result of weatherization upgrades can be considered direct benefits to tenants. This guidance will help ensure that low-income families who do not directly pay utilities have an opportunity to participate in the program.
The Weatherization Assistance Program received $5 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)- a 20-fold funding increase over previous years.
Urban Land Institute Releases Report on Housing and Transportation Costs in Greater Boston – April 12, 2010
Please click here to download the report.
Systems Transformation Grant Offers Recommendations to Expand Housing Access for People with Disabilities – June 25, 2010
Please click here to read final recommendations from the Massachusetts Systems Transformation Grant.
Governor Appoints Ron Homer as Chair of MassHousing – November 11, 2009
BOSTON – Tuesday, November 10, 2009 – Governor Deval Patrick announced today that he has appointed Ron Homer, a business and civic leader with 39 years of financial services experience and current member of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Board (MassHousing), to chair the MassHousing board. The Governor also called on MassHousing to focus its attention on the following key areas: affordable housing preservation, workforce housing creation and bond financing for state public housing.
Please click here for the full press release.
Mass. Feb. Foreclosure Petitions Up From Jan., Down Year-Over-Year (Banker & Tradesman) – March 25, 2010
The number of foreclosures started by lenders in Massachusetts during the month of February increased 13.2 percent from the prior month but was down 7.5 percent from a year ago, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
Lenders filed 2,122 petitions to foreclose – which mark the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts – in February, up from 1,874 in January but down from 2,295 in February 2009. A total of 3,996 petitions to foreclose have been filed in the first two months of 2010, a 6.1 percent drop from 4,255 a year earlier.
Please click here for the full article.