This letter to the editor from the US Treasury Department is no lie. There is a nationwide movement to place people back in homes and there is every indication it is working. It protects and grows neighborhoods and stabilizes local economies.
To the Editor: (click here)
In his May 9 Op-Ed article, “What Housing Recovery?,” Peter Dreier accurately identifies a continuing threat to our housing market: persistent and severe negative equity. For those households deeply underwater, their lack of equity in their homes makes them, and their neighbors, vulnerable to foreclosure for years to come.
What Mr. Dreier has not adequately captured are the efforts the Obama administration has taken to help these families. The Making Home Affordable program has modified more than a million mortgages, giving these homeowners an estimated $26.8 billion in savings over the last five years (a median savings of approximately $542 per month).
Our servicing standards have transformed the industry, indirectly assisting millions more by setting higher standards and changing industry practices that have led to more affordable and sustainable private modifications.
Forcing lenders to write down underwater loans may seem appealing but could have substantial long-term negative effects on the cost and availability of mortgage lending in the future.
Instead, we believe that incentive-based programs, such as Making Home Affordable’s principal reduction program and those administered by states participating in the Hardest Hit Fund, which provides substantial incentives to reduce negative equity, have proved to be an effective way for homeowners to restore a path to equity. They also help lenders reduce their long-term risk.
Making Home Affordable is available through Dec. 31, 2015.
MARK McARDLE
Chief of the Homeownership Preservation Office
Department of the Treasury
Washington, May 13, 2014
NeighborWorks actually does work. (click here)
Neighborhoods are the very basis of local economies. Stabilizing neighborhoods and putting residents into homes returns function to the USA economy. The more neighborhood stability occurs in the USA, the better it's outcome to it's economy. Housing is the American Dream. It grows wealth and in that, it grows the economy. The Democrats have lead the way since 2008 and it works.
May 21, 2014
New Report Shows Alliance Benefits Wisconsin Communities by Significantly Impacting State Economy, Leveraging More Than $182 Million in Total Economic Impact
GREEN BAY, WI--(Marketwire -07/17/12)- Today NeighborWorks America (click here) launched the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin, an agreement between 6 regional housing and community development organizations dedicated to improving housing opportunities and building strong communities for all Wisconsin residents. This alliance is formed by member organizations of NeighborWorks America, which creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. A new report released this week shows the organizations of the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin to be effective and productive small businesses, significantly benefitting the Wisconsin economy by creating jobs and generating income and tax revenue....
Following 2008 the poverty rate in the USA climbed to historic rates. What was the country going to do to recover? Leave them in limbo forever and simply state, "This is the new America, the two Americas have now become the three Americas; the Rich, the Poor and the Poorer. The driving force to economic return of the USA was to 'go where the people are' and bring them out of the deepest recession in this country's history. President Obama and the Democrats did exactly that regardless of the obstacles in their way. The result is working.
May 18, 2014
Jim King, Special to The Courier-Journal
...Over the past year the NeighborWorks Alliance of Kentucky (click here) has helped more than 562 families get into homes. Housing is a proven way to increase economic activity, but it needs some help.
First, support down payment assistance programs and affordable housing partnerships. Down payment assistance grants from the private sector, government and the foundation community are an essential tool to revive first-time homeownership, which is critical to a healthy housing market. A recent survey from the Federal Reserve showed that credit standards remain tighter than is necessary for a safe and properly underwritten housing market.
Nick Diedrichsen, a 35-year-old middle school band director and Morehead, Ky., resident at Rowan County Middle School in Morehead, knows firsthand the assistance NeighborWorks provides in Kentucky. Frontier Housing built a home for Nick and originated the loan through Just Choice Lending, FAHE’s lending department. A percussionist, Nick plays drums in the band Electric Edge, which will perform during the NeighborWorks Training Institute in Louisville today....
Housing was the ONE PLACE austerity could not stop economic growth. It was the one true investment that could not be undermined by the Republicans. The access to the housing was a greater challenge when public employees were forced on to unemployment, but, with people accepting work when it was available that didn't destroy their hopes for their future. So long as Americans could get a toe hold, the drive to fill housing was going to work.
The reason there hasn't been a vibrant return to housing price (value) growth is due to austerity. While the work in putting Americans back into homes has continued since 2008, there were huge set backs when Republican politics preyed on 'voter instincts' rather than 'economic facts and figures.'
The Republicans pretended they knew what was best for the country when they played with budgets and tax structures, but, the fact of the matter is they were hurting the USA's return to economic strength. The Republicans played on the idea a Household Budget was the same as the National Budget. It is only within the past year or so have Americans finally come to terms with what defines economic growth as they support increases in the Minimum Wage and Health Care for all Americans.
They also supported efforts such as The Buffet Rule.
Americans need proof and in that is the truly patriotic American. When Americans are given facts and they can relate to it in their own understanding of life, it becomes a beautiful thing. Fear works politically, but, it will never hold up when the truth comes to roost. The housing market and it's creep to the return of being the American Dream again is proof of the tenacity of the American people and what they know instinctively is right and wrong.
Washington, May 13, 2014
NeighborWorks actually does work. (click here)
Neighborhoods are the very basis of local economies. Stabilizing neighborhoods and putting residents into homes returns function to the USA economy. The more neighborhood stability occurs in the USA, the better it's outcome to it's economy. Housing is the American Dream. It grows wealth and in that, it grows the economy. The Democrats have lead the way since 2008 and it works.
May 21, 2014
New Report Shows Alliance Benefits Wisconsin Communities by Significantly Impacting State Economy, Leveraging More Than $182 Million in Total Economic Impact
GREEN BAY, WI--(Marketwire -07/17/12)- Today NeighborWorks America (click here) launched the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin, an agreement between 6 regional housing and community development organizations dedicated to improving housing opportunities and building strong communities for all Wisconsin residents. This alliance is formed by member organizations of NeighborWorks America, which creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. A new report released this week shows the organizations of the NeighborWorks Alliance of Wisconsin to be effective and productive small businesses, significantly benefitting the Wisconsin economy by creating jobs and generating income and tax revenue....
Following 2008 the poverty rate in the USA climbed to historic rates. What was the country going to do to recover? Leave them in limbo forever and simply state, "This is the new America, the two Americas have now become the three Americas; the Rich, the Poor and the Poorer. The driving force to economic return of the USA was to 'go where the people are' and bring them out of the deepest recession in this country's history. President Obama and the Democrats did exactly that regardless of the obstacles in their way. The result is working.
May 18, 2014
Jim King, Special to The Courier-Journal
...Over the past year the NeighborWorks Alliance of Kentucky (click here) has helped more than 562 families get into homes. Housing is a proven way to increase economic activity, but it needs some help.
First, support down payment assistance programs and affordable housing partnerships. Down payment assistance grants from the private sector, government and the foundation community are an essential tool to revive first-time homeownership, which is critical to a healthy housing market. A recent survey from the Federal Reserve showed that credit standards remain tighter than is necessary for a safe and properly underwritten housing market.
Nick Diedrichsen, a 35-year-old middle school band director and Morehead, Ky., resident at Rowan County Middle School in Morehead, knows firsthand the assistance NeighborWorks provides in Kentucky. Frontier Housing built a home for Nick and originated the loan through Just Choice Lending, FAHE’s lending department. A percussionist, Nick plays drums in the band Electric Edge, which will perform during the NeighborWorks Training Institute in Louisville today....
Housing was the ONE PLACE austerity could not stop economic growth. It was the one true investment that could not be undermined by the Republicans. The access to the housing was a greater challenge when public employees were forced on to unemployment, but, with people accepting work when it was available that didn't destroy their hopes for their future. So long as Americans could get a toe hold, the drive to fill housing was going to work.
The reason there hasn't been a vibrant return to housing price (value) growth is due to austerity. While the work in putting Americans back into homes has continued since 2008, there were huge set backs when Republican politics preyed on 'voter instincts' rather than 'economic facts and figures.'
The Republicans pretended they knew what was best for the country when they played with budgets and tax structures, but, the fact of the matter is they were hurting the USA's return to economic strength. The Republicans played on the idea a Household Budget was the same as the National Budget. It is only within the past year or so have Americans finally come to terms with what defines economic growth as they support increases in the Minimum Wage and Health Care for all Americans.
They also supported efforts such as The Buffet Rule.
Americans need proof and in that is the truly patriotic American. When Americans are given facts and they can relate to it in their own understanding of life, it becomes a beautiful thing. Fear works politically, but, it will never hold up when the truth comes to roost. The housing market and it's creep to the return of being the American Dream again is proof of the tenacity of the American people and what they know instinctively is right and wrong.
