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This week’s announcements by the Department of Housing and Urban Development include:
- FHA insures $12M mortgage for new affordable multifamily housing in Baltimore
- Disaster assistance announced for ME residents
- St. Louis area landlord charged with sexual harassment by HUD
- Allocation of $3B in funding announced for disaster recovery and climate resistance
- Biden Admin announces plan to remove racial bias in appraisals
- New residential sales dip in February
FHA insures $12M mortgage for new affordable multifamily housing in Baltimore
Date Posted: March 17, 2022
The Federal Housing Administration has announced the final endorsement and completed construction of a $12 million loan for a multifamily apartment project in Baltimore, MD.
Of the 87 total units in this project, there are 27 new construction rental homes, and 55 new construction row homes. Five row homes were also gutted and rehabbed.
The property, Marshall Gardens, is named after the first Black justice of the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall.
More information about this property can be found here.
Disaster assistance announced for ME residents
Date Posted: March 18, 2022
Federal disaster assistance has been announced by HUD to help state, tribal, and local recovery efforts for disaster survivors in certain areas of Maine.
Assistance is being provided in Knox, Waldo, and York County, which were affected by a severe storm and flooding from October 30 to October 31, 2021.
Effective immediately, HUD is:
- Providing immediate foreclosure relief in counties covered by the major disaster declaration
- Making mortgage insurance available
- Making insurance available for both mortgages and home rehabilitation
- Sharing information on housing providers and HUD programs
- Providing flexibility to Community Planning and Development Grantees
- Providing flexibility to Public Housing Agencies
- Providing flexibility to Tribes
- Ensuring HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are ready to assist
- Assisting with housing discrimination
More information about this disaster assistance can be found here.
St. Louis area landlord charged with sexual harassment by HUD
Date Posted: March 18, 2022
On Friday, HUD charged the owner of multiple single-family homes in the St. Louis, MO for alleged sexuall harassment of a female tenant.
The charge alleges “requests for sexual favors in exchange for reduced rent, and discriminatory statements based on sex.”
Demetria L. McCain, HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity said:
“No one should have to submit to unwelcome sexual advances or tolerate sexual harassment to keep their home, a place where a person should feel safest…Today’s charge sends a clear message to all landlords that HUD is committed to taking action against landlords whose behavior violates the Fair Housing Act.”
More information about this charge can be found here.
Allocation of $3B in funding announced for disaster recovery and climate resistance
Date Posted: March 22, 2022
HUD announced the allocation of $3 billion in funding to help communities recover from disasters, and prevent further disasters.
This Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding will improve disaster recovery efforts, and build long-term resilience to the impacts of climate change.
According to HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge:
“Communities will have greater resources and focus to ensure equitable outcomes for underserved households that too often bear the brunt of climate-related disasters. With these funds, we are sending a strong message that equity and forward-looking mitigation are priorities of HUD and this administration’s disaster recovery work.”
The HUD press release says “These funds will go to recover from and build resilience to natural disasters, including climate disasters, with a specific focus on low- and moderate-income populations.” The funds will also be used for the most impacted and distressed areas.
More information about this disaster recovery and climate resistance funding can be found here.
Biden Admin announces plan to remove racial bias in appraisals
Date Posted: March 23, 2022
Today, HUD delivered its Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) Action Plan to President Biden.
“The PAVE Action Plan is aimed squarely at dismantling racial bias in the home lending and appraisal process and promoting generational wealth creation through homeownership,” according to the HUD press release.
HUD’s announcement states that this is the “most wide-ranging set of reforms ever put forward to advance equity in the home appraisal process.”
Currently, “the median white family holds eight times the wealth of the average Black family and five times the wealth of the average Latino family,” according to HUD.
To develop this plan, more than 150 groups were engaged by the PAVE Task Force; including appraisers, lenders, and civil rights and advocacy groups.
More information about the PAVE Task Force can be found here.
New residential sales dip in February
Date Posted: March 23, 2022
HUD and the Census Bureau announced today a two-percent drop in seasonally adjusted sales of new single-family homes between January and February, 2022.
Sales also dropped 6.2 percent below the February, 2021 estimate of 823,000 homes.
The seasonally adjusted numbers for February include:
- New Houses Sold: 772,000
- New Houses For Sale: 407,000
- Median Sales Price: $400,600
- Average Sales Price: $511,000
More information about new February, 2022 residential sales can be found here.
