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VHC News Clips, volume 2011-5 (February 3, 2011)

Housing Advocacy Day 2011
Richmond , VA
(RECAP: Make plans to join us for the 2011 Housing Advocacy Day at the Virginia General Assembly on Wednesday, February 2nd from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm! For complete details or to register, click here: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=7rm8y7bab&oeidk=a07e37j6ki80b3c105e)

Housing Virginia …Start Here!
January Issue
(RECAP: Housing Virginia makes the case for increasing the supply of affordable housing options across the state by providing local leaders with up-to-date housing research, proven approaches and effective community education strategies. Stay up to date with news, approaches and solid information to use in your region.)

Banks Boost Home-Loan Relief : Direct Talks With Borrowers Get More Results Than Government's Mortgage-Modification Program
The Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2011
(RECAP: The Treasury reported Monday that the government's Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, had provided permanent help to 521,630 homeowners since the program began in spring 2009. By comparison, over the same period, banks negotiating directly with borrowers have made about two million permanent loan modifications outside the government's program. These modifications continued to rise in recent months even as the number of HAMP modifications trailed off.)

Chesterfield 's property values drop again
The Progress-Index, January 31, 2011
(RECAP: For the second year in a row, the assessed value of real estate declined in the county.)

Building a foundation for affordable housing
Alexandria Times, January 29, 2011
(RECAP: Bill Harris, a longtime city resident, also sits on the commission on aging and knows all too well the problems facing elderly and disabled low-income residents home hunting. There aren't many options in the area, unless you can shell out several thousand a month, Harris said. “If you can afford to pay, there are places to go,” he said. “If you can't, there aren't many options, even any medium-income options.”)

Register NOW for NLIHC's 2011 Annual Housing Policy Conference and Lobby Day, March 27-30. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Representative Barney Frank and Representative Keith Ellison Confirmed as Keynote Speakers!
(RECAP: Early Bird registration is open for NLIHC's 2011 Annual Housing Policy Conference and Lobby Day, which will take place Sunday, March 27 through Wednesday, March 30 in Washington , DC . The conference will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, at 2500 Calvert Street, N.W. To register, go to www.nlihc.org/conference. Or, download a registration form at www.nlihc.org/conference/registration.pdf.)

Financial Crisis Report Spreads Blame Far and Wide for Meltdown
Politics Daily, January 28, 2011
(RECAP: There's plenty of blame to spread around -- and the financial crisis was avoidable. In a nutshell, that's the conclusion of a report released Thursday by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a congressionally appointed body that explored reasons for the 2007-08 meltdown that led to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.)

Development standards, residential districts up for review
The Virginia Gazette, January 28, 2011
(RECAP: JAMES CITY -- The Policy Committee has scheduled three meetings in early February. Want to go? All meetings will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held in Building A of the James City County Government Complex, off Mounts Bay Road .)

Home Sweet Home
Alexandria Gazette Packet, January 28, 2011
(RECAP: Nearly 50 years ago, Carrie knew exactly which home she wanted: The trim brick house on the street corner at the end of the row, with easy access and lots of light. "We were already living in an end house, and I knew I wanted another end house," she recalls. "And that's what I got." And thanks to some help from volunteers with Rebuilding Together Alexandria, a nonprofit that works to preserve affordable home ownership, Carrie's two-story rowhouse has gotten some improvements that have made it easier for her to navigate.)

Update on RHRA
NLIHC Memo to Members, January 28, 2011
(RECAP: On January 25, members of the Resident Engagement Group (REG) sent a letter to Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) regarding his Rental Housing Revitalization Act (RHRA), which was introduced near the end of the 111th session of Congress as H.R. 6468. The bill represented the latest in a progression of proposals to transform HUD's rental assistance programs. Mr. Ellison is expected to introduce an updated bill, which will incorporate more suggestions from stakeholders, in the coming months. Link to the REG and NAHRO letters, as well as to NAHRO's conversion proposal, at NLIHC's RHRA News page (formerly our PETRA Watch page), at: http://www.nlihc.org/template/page.cfm?id=262)

Home sales drop in '10: Charlottesville housing market experiences overall 1.5-percent
decrease
The Cavalier Daily, January 27, 2011
(RECAP: More than three years after the 2007 housing crisis, Charlottesville housing market sales are still continuing to decrease. The market closed out 2010 with 2,707 sales, 1.5 percent below levels at the end of 2009, according to a 2010 Year-End Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors Market Report.)

John Randolph Foundation awards $239,000 in regional grants
The Progress-Index, January 27, 2011
(RECAP: As part of its fall 2010 grant cycle, the John Randolph Foundation gave out more than $239,000 in grants. At the foundation's semi-annual grant awards ceremony on Monday, the money was awarded to 11 nonprofit organizations sharing the foundation's mission to improve health and quality of life in the Hopewell area. Grants are awarded twice a year. The deadline for interested 501(c)(3) organizations to submit a concept paper for the 2011 spring grant cycle is February 1 at 4 p.m. For questions regarding any of the John Randolph Foundation's programs, visit johnrandolphfoundation.org or call 804-458-2239.)

Faith community continues to unite to meet needs
Altavista Journal , January 26, 2011
(RECAP: This area that we call home has a great record of people of faith identifying a need and rising to meet it.)

Influential Proposal to Outline Fannie, Freddie Fixes
The Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2011
(RECAP: A new report from a liberal think tank with close ties to the Obama administration provides one of the most detailed road maps yet for the creation of a housing-finance structure to succeed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.)

Reston Getting Smaller?: Survey suggests population has gone down in past five years.
Reston Connection, January 25, 2011
(RECAP: Most groups planning for the future of Reston are concerned with making sure there are enough schools, roads and other infrastructure for what is projected to be a growing population. But according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Reston might have gotten smaller in the past decade.)

 

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