The Texas mortgage industry needs to take a hard look in the mirror
After reading Richard Bitner’s new book, Confessions of a Subprime Lender: An Insider’s Tale of Geed, Fraud and Ignorance IContinue Reading
Category: State issues
The voice of consumers is missing in judging subsidized housing
Low income tenants are seldom consulted about the quality of housing that the government builds for them. I have longContinue Reading
The best (and worst) performing Texas public housing authorities according to HUD
In the course of updating our databases of all the multifamily subsidized housing in Texas this week I manually extractedContinue Reading
Sunset Commission votes to reauthorize TSAHC for six years
As I noted in a posting earlier this week the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC) is up for reviewContinue Reading
Everything is bigger in Texas – except our housing trust fund
Looking over the latest report from Mary Brook’s Housing Trust Fund Project at the Center for Community Change makes meContinue Reading
Lingering concerns about Texas Hurricane Rita home rebuilding
I am supporting the the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs Round 2 plan for CDBG housing assistance forContinue Reading
Texas Teachers Retirement Fund speculates in subprime mortgage backed securities
Demonstrating poor judgment the Texas Teacher’s Retirement Fund announced it is planning to invest $250 million of retirement funds ofContinue Reading
Save the TX State Affordable Housing Corporation by giving it a new mission
On Tuesday, June 24 the Texas Sunset Commission will meet to make a recommendation to the next Texas Legislature whetherContinue Reading
Curbing substandard housing in rural Texas
Watch John Henneberger’s testimony before the Texas Seante International Relations and Trade Committee on substandard rural housing. Read my writtenContinue Reading
An important role for state legislatures in the foreclosure crisis
Financial Institutions Committee Chairman Burt Solomon is reasonable and fair in approaching the issue of state regulation of financial institutions.Continue Reading
One perspective on the Texas foreclosure crisis
View Dr. James Gaines presentation [it takes a couple minutes to begin playing] before the Texas House financial institutions committeeContinue Reading
Dealing (or not) with the foreclosure crisis in Texas
Watch Robert Doggett’s testimony before the Financial Services Committee, or better yet watch the entire hearing. On Wednesday Robert Doggett,Continue Reading
At least we are better off than Mississippi and Alabama
Watch my testimony before the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Financial Service Committee, or, better yet,Continue Reading
Inclusionary zoning: background
After yesterday’s posting in which I discussed the use of inclusionary zoning several people asked me what inclusionary zoning isContinue Reading
Recommendations for state action to prevent displacement of low income people from gentrifying neighborhoods
A group of us have been kicking around ideas to address the problem of the involuntary displacement of low incomeContinue Reading
Cleaning house at the state
The June 5, 2008 compliance hearing video is 60 minutes. It provides a very useful overview of the issues surroundingContinue Reading
Let’s expand self-help housing across Texas
Texas has several of the nation’s leading self-help housing nonprofits who have been tremendously successful in producing highly cost-efficient self-helpContinue Reading
Texas tempts fate and courts disaster
Is it that we Texans like living dangerously? Are we just slow to learn? Or are we the victims ofContinue Reading
TxLIHIS testimony on Senate housing studies
In an earlier post I listed the various studies related to housing being conducted by Texas Senate Committees during theContinue Reading
Texas House of Representatives studies housing
Two days ago I posted the interim studies being conducted on housing by the Texas Senate. Let’s expand that listContinue Reading
TX Senate studies housing
In the previous post Karen Paup brought up the inclusionary zoning issue at the Texas Legislature. I pointed out thatContinue Reading
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May 31, 2008
Inclusionary zoning redux
The Texas Legislature last session made inclusionary zoning unlawful except in very limited circumstances. Inclusionary zoning is an essential toolContinue Reading
We have not learned the lessons of Katrina
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina we wondered what we could do to help. We settled on four things: 1)Continue Reading