In separate tours of U.S. cities, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials along with local leaders have been attempting to convey the potentially profound positive effects passage of the American Jobs Act could have on local communities.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, along with Senator Sherrod Brown and Mayor Michael Coleman toured Columbus, Ohio in an effort to raise awareness about the economic benefits of the bill.
According to Shaun Donovan, over $577 million could be set aside for Ohio alone if the bills are passed, with the city of Columbus being allocated $50.8 million from the Neighborhood Stabilization project with additional resources from Project Rebuild. Said Donovan, “By rebuilding neighborhoods devastated by the economic crisis, we will improve surrounding property values, create new jobs, and foster long-term economic growth. Project Rebuild would put vacant properties to good use and target funds to the hardest-hit communities so we can jump start economic growth and strengthen our communities.”
Donovan also toured Richmond, Virginia with Mayor Dwight Jones. Richmond has been allocated $2.4 million as part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
“The Neighborhood Stabilization Program has been instrumental in helping us implement the East End Transformation Plan, which we launched last year in partnership with Bon Secours Community Hospital. We’ve also been able to leverage these dollars for maximum private and non-City investment to help put vacant and derelict properties back to productive use as we are assuming a comprehensive approach to neighborhood economic revitalization. We are encouraged by the federal Administration’s decision to establish Project Rebuild, and support full funding of the program,” said Mayor Jones.
Recent HUD statistics have shown that investments in neighborhood stabilization have been able to increase home sale prices in 67% of communities who have received those investments, while 73% have seen lower vacancy rates, and 47% have seen both.
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Mortgage Law Group, a Chicag0-based firm that specializes in foreclosure defense, is expanding its reach across the United States by hiring an army of new attorneys to defend homeowners facing a foreclosure crisis. The group currently has over 140 active members in 46 U.S. states.
The group is increasing its reach in preparation for a possible onslaught of foreclosure notices, as the foreclosure process pipelines are still clogged since the real estate market collapse in 2008. With the possibility that banks across the country will ramp up foreclosure claims, the law group is preparing to meet potential demand for foreclosure defense.
Of course, the firm also has ideas about how to begin to stabilize the current real estate and financial markets. Whereas the banks had slowed down foreclosure proceedings in previous months in order to stabilize real estate prices, the practice unintentionally added toxicity to their loan portfolios.
Says attorney Colin Banyon, “”What’s really needed here is for lenders to be willing to take a small haircut on the principle value of the loan and simply adjust the payment terms to reflect the current value of the property. This way there won’t be a glut of homes sold on the auction block at fire-sale prices that will only further exacerbate the problem of a declining real estate market. The truth is many of these lenders are not in the right. There have been numerous errors through the underwriting process, chain of title, and securitization of mortgages that really does provide a strong defense against lenders improperly and in some cases illegally foreclosing on homeowners. We intend to defend our clients in hopes the lenders will do the right thing and modify the terms of the loans so we can eradicate this foreclosure crisis once and for all.”
Source: Marketwire
The United States Departments of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury, in partnership with Ad Council are releasing a new PSA to help homeowners facing foreclosure receive the assistance they need. The ad campaign seeks to raise awareness of free government resources provided through the Making Home Affordable Program (MHAP) to help those who are having trouble making their mortgage payments.
One in 11 homeowners, nearly 10%, have missed two or more mortgage payments and could face foreclosure. Many struggling families forestall conversations about their financial troubles in the hopes that things will turn around and end up facing foreclosure without ever receiving assistance.
MHAP has already helped over 1,000,000 homeowners and provides HUD approved housing counselors for free, one-on-one conversations with those facing a possible mortgage crisis. The new PSA hopes to help homeowners reach the help they need in the hopes of preventing more households from becoming a part of the foreclosure process.
The agencies recommend that those homeowners experiencing financial problems that might impact their mortgage payments call 888-995-HOPE (4673) to be put in contact with a counselor who may be able to help.
Bank of America has reported an increase in loans and grants made to small business during the first half of 2011. Serving over four million small business clients, new credit issued to small business increased over 35 percent compared to the same period in 2010. The bank generally defines small businesses as those with less than $20 million in annual revenue.
Success stories include San Francisco-based engineering and information security firm Sentek Global, which required additional financing to hire additional employees to fulfill government contracts. Sentek Founder and President, Erik Basu, has noted that the companies revenue and employment have doubled over the past two years.
Bank of America has also increased funding to Community Development Financial Institutions (CFDIs) and similar organizations, which provide capital to local small businesses. The increased funding allows those institutions to access up to $100 million in government subsidized loan capital.
This may be good news for small businesses hit hard by the economic recession.
Source: Bank of America
A new education advertising campaign has been launched by Freecreditscore.com aimed at teaching parents and children the effects of cosigning for loans. The campaign was launched after recent surveys suggested nearly 30 percent of young adults aged 18 to 24 were not aware that both the primary borrower and the co-signer were equally responsible when it comes to paying loans, credit cards, and housing costs.
The ad spots will feature the Freecreditscore.com band in their traditional musical format, teaching parents and children alike the ins and outs of cosigning for loans. The reality is one faced by many families as their children venture out on their own, either into the entry-level workforce or by attending college.
With college costs rising and an economic recovery on the brink of reverse, the educational spots will hopefully allow parents and children both to understand the responsibilities of both parties when signing a new lease or obtaining college loans. With a stagnant job market and greater difficulty for many new adults in obtaining their first lines of credit, these scenarios are likely to present themselves to more families in the near future.
Source: Experian
Abandoning all loyalty to the democratic processes this nation holds dear, President Obama has made the decision that getting energy tax legislation through Congress with the approval of the American people is just too much of a pain to bother with. Instead he will have the EPA declare as early as next week that CO2 is a dangerous global warming gas and will start regulating its emissions immediately.
Obama’s promise to open up vast stretches of ocean on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration is simply a ruse to soften up the public for soon to be announced draconian regulations.
Similar to how Obama used the $50 million dollar study on healthcare companies competing across state lines to sell ObamaCare as a bipartisan bill, his recent decree allowing energy companies to explore (not drill, not produce energy from … just explore) new stretches of ocean for oil is also meant to be a trivial, yet impressive enough sounding carrot for conservatives right before he stuffs his Marxist trash down their throats.
House Minority Leader John Boehner responded to Obama by saying “At the same time the White House makes today’s announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is plotting a new massive job-killer that the American people can’t afford.”
Every American who doesn’t live in a technology adverse commune in California will now pay even more of their hard earned cash to the federal government for absolutely no good reason.
Put simply, it means $8 for a gallon of gas and 2-3 times higher electricity bills. It also means the loss of millions more sorely needed jobs as businesses are hit with higher operating costs and the transfer of whatever remains of our manufacturing sector to China where energy is cheaper and they aren’t so concerned about CO2.
In the first week alone, American businesses estimated that ObamaCare will cost them $14 billion. By most estimates this latest Obama nightmare will be far more expensive and may literally destroy the economy in less than 20 years.
All because of climate science that has been clearly exposed as inaccurate and untrustworthy. Obama may or may not be a communist plant sent to destroy America, but he sure is acting like one.
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