Top 10 reasons to be a Texas low income housing optimist
I have put on my rose colored glasses and come up with the top ten reasons to be an optimistContinue Reading
Latest Posts
The effect of the Fannie/Freddie meltdown on affordable housing
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares are falling like a rock. The Bush Administration is said to be working onContinue Reading
The present day saga on one Texas non-border colonia
First Texas had colonias along the border with Mexico. Now “non-border colonias” are an emerging issue. A colonia, in Texas terms,Continue Reading
New designs for low income post-disaster housing in Texas
Here is a little background on the Texas Grow Home project to bring you up-to-date. The Genesis of this projectContinue Reading
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
Austin housers voice concerns over proposed city housing cuts
Leaders in Austin’s affordable housing community met July 1 the City of Austin’s new Chief of Staff, Anthony Snipes toContinue Reading
Katrina evacuee’s Habitat success story greeted by cheers and jeers
Reading the story in the Houston Chronicle on July 4 about Andrea Lee who moved to Houston after Hurricane KatrinaContinue Reading
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
Nonprofit FHA downpayment assistance scheme nets 19% Texas defaults
I’m sorry if this makes me sound like an affordable housing hertic but this bothers me. NPR reports there areContinue Reading
Unraveling the mystery of 500 unused Dallas Section 8 vouchers
The Dallas Morning News ran a story by Kim Horner on June 23 about 500 Section 8 vouchers that haveContinue Reading
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July 3, 2008
El Cenizo community leader Lupe De Leon fought for property rights, housing, better living conditions
On Saturday, June 28, 2008, Lupe De Leon died at his home in El Cenizo TX. Mr. De Leon wasContinue 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
Part 2: Housing segregation in Austin – a community blind to the problem
Watch my video blog or read the text below. Austin is a city of intense racial and economic segregation. DespiteContinue Reading
Part 1: Housing segregation in Austin – a product of government policy
Watch the slide show of racial and economic housing segregation and the current housing policy decisions of the City ofContinue Reading
Housers need to shun “over-opinionization” and appreciate the big picture
One of the occupational diseases of working in affordable housing is overspecialization leading to “over-opinionization”. This malady infects housing practitionersContinue 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
State of the Nation’s Housing – it’s getting worse
I know I have been mostly blogging about problems lately. All of this negative housing news can be depressing. IContinue 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
A honest critique of media foreclosure prevention pablum
My friend and sometimes colleague Robert Doggett eviscerates an example of the typical advice story the media dishes out toContinue 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
Home builders object and Austin backs away from housing visitability requirements
June 18 was not an auspicious day in Austin housing rights history. Shortly before voting to adopt the anemic affordableContinue Reading
City of Austin’s affordable housing initiative fizzles out
An Austin City Council affordable housing initiative fizzled out early June 19 as the Council voted to adopt a PUDContinue 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
City of Austin staff proposes housing cuts of over $6 million
My colleague, Karen Paup stays up to date on all the Austin housing issues and she has pointed out anContinue Reading
House flippers and scam artists prey on Houston poor
House flippers and scam artists prey upon low income Texans as they desperately struggle to find a home or tryContinue Reading
Disgraceful indifference to substandard conditions in Houston
In an outstanding piece of investigative journalism Houston Chronicle staff writers Matt Stiles, Mike Snyder and Julio Cortez have exposedContinue 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