At this hour the Houston-Galveston area is bracing for a forecasted direct hit from Hurricane Ike. Once again the impact…
Category: State issues
Revitalizing nuisance properties to be explored at Dallas meeting
I have discussed the problem of getting cities to take action on abandoned and derelict properties in low income neighborhoods. …
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compliation – 9/10/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
Texas should prioritize energy efficiency in low income housing development
Utility costs are a large and growing problem for low income families. We need to explore the cost effectiveness of…
State housing agency board acts fiscally responsibly on LIHTC awards
My compliments to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) board of directors who rejected pleas from low…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 9/3/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
When the next hurricane hits most low income Texas homeowners will not have any insurance
Many people were shocked in the wake of Hurricane Rita at seventy percent of the homeowners (who were overwhelmingly low…
New Census study documents stunning levels of income inequality in Texas
This week the US Bureau of the Census released a report titled. Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data From the 2007…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 8/27/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
As the pumpkin season approaches there is not housing for farm workers in the Texas pumpkin capital
The farm worker housing development in Floydada, TX and in the Texas Panhandle’s Floyd County is closed. Farm workers are…
Plight of renters unaddressed in foreclosure crisis
While the country focuses on the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure, the plight of renters forced to move due to…
It is time to abolish the ineffective Texas Residential Construction Commission
The hopelessly flawed Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) has been recommended for abolition by the Texas Sunset Commission staff. The…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 8/20/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
Who says home equity loans are a good idea?
Who says home equity loans (second mortgages) are a good idea? Primarily the banks who pushed home equity loans into…
Texas Senate committee hears strong support for Texas Housing Trust Fund
A chorus of voices spoke up for an increase in the Texas Housing Trust Fund in testimony this week before…
A critical moment in the housing tax credit program looms
On August 14 the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) hosted a “work group” to gather input on…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 8/13/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
The persistence of Texas ghettos is a problem for us all
Ghetto: a portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 8/6/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
When cities do not act, let’s give communities the power to take over abandoned properties
The problem posed by abandoned, derelict housing where cities have failed to follow through on code violations extends beyond multifamily…
Texas Housercast: Talking energy saving and green building in low income housing
This week’s Texas housercast is an interview with Walter Moreau, executive director of Austin’s Foundation Communities the state’s largest nonprofit…
New housing bill presents TDHCA a test of its public purpose
When President Bush signed the big housing bill Wednesday he ushered in a number of changes to the Low Income…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 7/30/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver shares with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories from his weekly…
Lt. Governor Dewhurst pledges to “double or triple” Texas Housing Trust Fund
Speaking before the annual Texas Housing Conference Monday, Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst pledged that the Texas Legislature would double…
Questions, answers, concerns about the new $4 billion foreclosed homes program in Texas
One of the subprograms of greatest controversy within the major housing legislation passed by Congress on Saturday (HR 3221) is…
The toll from Hurricane Dolly is not in and we’re not prepared for a low income housing disaster
At this hour we still don’t have a full account of damage from Hurricane Dolly which hit Brownsville and the…
Bo McCarver’s weekly housing news compilation – 7/23/2008
My friend and fellow houser Bo McCarver has agreed to share with the Texas housers blog the housing related stories…
Low Income Housing Tax Credit program in Dallas frozen and challanged in lawsuit
The Low Income Housing Tax Credit program in Dallas has been effectively shut down for several years and is now…
VISTAs make good things happen in housing
We have a new VISTA volunteer at the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service and I am once again reminded…