HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan’s Keynote Speech at the CHAPA Annual Dinner – October 23, 2009
Please click here for the full text of Secretary Donovan’s speech.
Troubled Mortgages Hit Record High (Washington Post) – August 21, 2009
The proportion of homeowners delinquent on their mortgage or in foreclosure rose to its highest levels in at least four decades, according to industry data released Thursday, despite extensive government efforts to help borrowers and signs that the economy is starting to heal.
Please click here for the full story.
Assistant Program Manager Job Opening at CHAPA – August 10, 2009
At the request of municipalities and state agencies, CHAPA serves as a monitoring agent for some mixed-income housing developments in Massachusetts. This involves ensuring that income-eligible low and moderate income households occupy the affordable units, and managing the refinancing and resale of those units.
CHAPA is seeking an Assistant Program Manager to carry out the following responsibilities on a part-time (3 days/week) basis:
- Provide information and referrals (over the phone and in writing) to individuals who have purchased affordable homeownership units.
- Review and process refinance requests from homeowners to determine whether they meet established criteria.
- Coordinate the resale of affordable homeownership units. (CHAPA subcontracts the specific tasks involved in reselling the units with consultants who work directly with the individual seller and prospective new purchaser. The Assistant Program manager oversees their efforts.)
- Maintain a database of homeowners who have purchased affordable units. Obtain executed deed riders from the closing attorneys after the units have been closed.
- Conduct income certifications of prospective buyers for affordable units, and review income certifications of tenants residing in affordable units.
To view the full job description, please click here.
WBUR Report – Housing in Boston Less Affordable Than Ever – October 26, 2009
WBUR
“Report: Housing In Boston Less Affordable Than Ever”
Barry Bluestone, dean of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and co-author of the Boston Foundation’s 2009 housing report card which was released Monday, reveals that a spike in foreclosures has driven up demand for rental housing and pushed up prices. Rents were up 11 percent this spring compared to the second quarter of 2005.
Here are some other facts from the report:
- Boston rents are now the second highest in the country, after San Francisco.
- Bluestone predicts it will be another four to five years until prices return to those of 2005.
- “The Third Civil War’s going to be what regions of the country, what metro areas, what states can retain and attract young people,” Bluestone said. “Housing costs (and) rents are going to be a critical decision in where people decide to move, where people decide to remain. If we can’t solve our housing price and rent problems in the future, we’re going to lose that civil war.”
Bluestone recommends expanding voucher programs to help people pay the rent and advocates federal legislation that would allow new homebuyers to purchase home insurance from the federal government.
Building Blocks Releases Letter to Governor Patrick on Emergency Cuts – October 6, 2009
Please click here for to read the letter.
Governor Patrick Awards $45.5 Million to Jump-Start Housing Tax Credit Developments – August 18, 2009
BOSTON – Tuesday, August 18, 2009 – As part of his Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor Deval Patrick today announced the state will target $45.5 million in federal recovery funds to help jump start delayed affordable housing developments throughout Massachusetts and create hundreds of jobs.
Please click here for the entire press release.