Facing a huge deficit issue, Congress finally acts to give tax breaks to homebuyers but does not address the broader…
Author: John Henneberger
I started my commitment to housing justice for people and communities with low incomes in 1975 in Austin's Clarksville community. These years of working side-by-side with dedicated community leaders to find solutions to housing and community development challenges have taught me some things and I’m learning new things every day.Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 11/3/2009
Disclosures about Wall Street’s bottom-feeders continue to surface: two stories about Goldman-Sachs were published this week describing the firm’s shady…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 10/27/2009
Confusion reins at Freddie Mac where the quasi-governmental agency cannot bridge the roles of oversight and profiteering. The organization was…
An Austin designer’s interesting approach to post-disaster shelter
Austin designer Michael McDaniel has developed an alternative temporary housing solution to the FEMA trailer. He calls it the Reaction…
“To feel useful in this old world”
Yesterday’s blog post, actually ghostwritten by Kristin Carlisle, stirred the recollections of more than one reader regarding the portrayal by…
The real poverty rate in US is much higher
In Ben Bernanke’s America, the recession is ending, stocks are rising, and cash is flowing. The housing crisis is over:…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 10/20/2009
Seeking to provide mortgages to a huge wait-list of first-time homeowners refused by private banks, the Obama Administration has initiated…
Bo McCarver’s Weekly Housing News Compilation – 10/13/2009
Having exhausted the over-sold mortgage ruse, predators now set their sights on reverse mortgages and the elderly. As the scams…
Housing Tax Credit Assistance Program: A second bite at the apple?
One of the TDHCA programs we are tracking with our new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act accountability initiative is the…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 10/6/2009
The bank doesn’t want your mortgage: with more profit to be made at less risk in other ventures, banks are…
Will corruption convictions bring reform to housing programs?
In the wake of the conviction of former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and Planning Commissioner D’Angelo Lee in…
Former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem and others guilty in housing tax credit case
The Dallas Morning News reports the federal district court jury found all of the defendants in the Dallas Low Income…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 9/28/2009
Thousands of Gulf Coast poor driven inland by Hurricanes Katrina and Ike have not returned; many choose not to and…
HUD should reject the State of Texas plan to misspend $3 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funds
The State of Texas is required to submit a plan amendment to HUD by September 30 outlining its final plan…
To protect lenders task force censuring advice given to Texas homeowners facing foreclosure
Texas consumer housing advocate and attorney Robert Doggett is on a tirade. Not against the usual predatory lenders or slumlords…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 9/22/2009
The annual American Community Survey has been released and shows the pervasive effects of the recession. The meltdown of the…
New TxLIHIS initiative seeks improvements in housing tax credit program
We are pleased to announce a major new initiative at TxLIHIS. One of the largest affordable housing programs in Texas…
Latest data shows 3.8 million Texans live in poverty
The number of Texans living in poverty is up 537,000 over the past decade according to data from the US…
Governor orders $1.3B Hurricane recovery plan changed but fails to fix the problem
Not surprisingly the ill-conceived “weather report plan” proposed by ORCA to divide up the federal disaster recovery dollars in Texas…
Bo McCarver’s Weekly Housing Compilation – 9/15/2009
On the first anniversary of Hurricane Ike, coastal newspapers chronicled the plight of thousands of displaced residents still waiting to…
Texans in key posts at USDA hopefully means housing restored to a TX office priority
Two Texans have been appointed to important positions in Washington DC at the National Office of USDA’s Rural Development. Last…
People of color not enjoying economic recovery
The data from the Center for Social Inclusion is disturbing. The organization has analyzed 2009 US Census data and uncovered…
How much housing money is needed for Ike/Dolly rebuilding?
ORCA has proposed to allocate the remaining $1.3 billion of the $3,057,991,440 in Ike/Dolly CDBG rebuilding funds based on a model…
Questions about nonprofit emerges in housing tax credit corruption trial
In an earlier post (see issue 14) I mentioned that some social services that Low Income Housing Tax Credit developers…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 9/8/2009
As the housing market continues to sputter, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac falter under government conservatorship. The corporations have been…
Overview of the Tax Credit Exchange Program in Texas
Federal Program Highlights: Funding: 3 Billion Administering Agency: US Treasury Unused funds must be returned by 1/1/2011 Texas Program Highlights:…
Overview of the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) in Texas
Here is a brief overview of the Texas Credit Assistance Program and how it is shaping up in Texas. Federal…
It worked! TDHCA Tax Credit Exchange Program gets apps for 883 ELI apartments
The 2009 Stimulus Bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) contained a provision allowing the limited exchange of tax…
Testimony describes absurdity of Texas hurricane disaster fund allocation plan
Joe Higgs, organizer for Gulf Coast Interfaith, laid out clearly the problems with the proposed State of Texas plan to…
Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey on the politics of hurricane rebuilding
In his column today Houston Chronicle featured columnist Rick Casey speculates about why Governor Perry is allowing the Texas Office…