Margert in the News
Governor Spitzer Announces
Additional Heating Assistance to Combat Rising Energy Prices
Read the
Full Story on the NYS DHCR website.
Second Grant Available to Those in Crisis
Governor
Eliot Spitzer has announced that additional emergency home
heating assistance is being made available to New York's most
vulnerable residents, in response to rising energy costs. The
state has approved offering a second emergency benefit to
qualified applicants through the Home Energy Assistance Program
(HEAP). HEAP, a federally-funded program administered by the
State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA),
assists eligible households in meeting their home energy needs.
So far this winter heating season, HEAP has issued benefits to
more than 719,000 families, totaling more than $178 million.
OTDA Commissioner David A. Hansell appeared today at Senior
Services of Albany on Delaware Avenue to help publicize the
additional benefits.
"As all New Yorkers struggle with record-high home energy
costs, it's important we do all we can so that senior citizens
and low-income New Yorkers can continue to heat their homes
during the winter months," said Governor Spitzer. "This action
ensures vulnerable households facing crisis situations do not
have to go without heat. I would like to especially thank
Senators Schumer and Clinton, Representatives Rangel, Lowey, and
Walsh, and the entire New York congressional delegation for
their hard work in securing these critical funds for New York
State."
Read the
Full Story on the NYS DHCR website.
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Mortgage Plan Seeks To Stem
Foreclosures
The Full Story
The
Washington
Post
By Dina
El Boghdady
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Office of
Thrift Supervision is preparing a plan to help mortgage borrowers who owe
more than their homes are worth and to discourage them from abandoning those
properties, agency officials said yesterday.
Under the regulatory agency's proposal, still in its early stages, these
borrowers would refinance into government-insured loans that cover the current
value of their homes. The refinancing would pay part of what's owed to the
original lender. For the remainder, the lender would get what the plan's backers
call a "negative equity certificate." The lender could redeem the certificate if
the home is eventually sold at a higher price.
The plan is a sharp change from the way troubled mortgages are handled now. It
is the latest government initiative aimed at containing the mortgage market mess
that surfaced last year when subprime borrowers began defaulting at an alarming
rate. The administration and Congress have weighed in with their own plans in
recent months, and the OTS proposal is meant to dovetail with those. "We're
trying to find something that could operate in tandem with all these other
proposals" without taking the borrower off the hook and without using taxpayer
money, said Kevin Petrasic, an OTS spokesman. "We want to avoid having people
walk away from their homes."
The agency, which has been closely involved in talks about government
responses to the mortgage problems, focused on borrowers whose home values have
plummeted because a growing number of people are in that situation and unable to
refinance.
The proposal was briefly mentioned at a regular quarterly news briefing. More
details should emerge over coming weeks, Petrasic said. The plan has been
extensively analyzed internally and is now being discussed with policymakers and
industry officials, he said.
The plan would separate a troubled mortgage into two parts. The first would
cover the current fair-market value of the home and would be refinanced by the
Federal Housing Administration. The remainder would be issued to the
original lender as a certificate.
If the borrower eventually sells the home, the FHA mortgage would be paid off
first. Remaining cash would be applied to paying off the value of that
certificate. Anything left over would go to the borrower.
If there's not enough profit to pay off the certificate, the original lender
would take a loss, which makes this proposal a gamble. However, the plan
anticipates that there would be a market where these certificates are traded.
That means the lenders could sell them immediately to offset some of the loss or
hold them with the hope that they will appreciate, said Jaret Seiberg, an
analyst at Stanford Policy Research.
The certificates would likely trade for small amounts, maybe $2 for every $100
in home value, and the amounts would increase as the housing market strengthens,
Seiberg said.
But there are still many political and logistical hurdles.
This plan has not been vetted by the White House, Congress or other
policymakers. The FHA declined to comment on the specifics except to say it is
"regularly looking at new ideas and actively exploring ways to expand the
eligible pool of creditworthy borrowers FHA can serve."
Whether investors will embrace the idea depends on many details that aren't
resolved, Seiberg said. But it could be a way for lenders to cut their losses.
"It beats foreclosure," Seiberg said. "These certificates enable [investors] to
share in the upside if the housing market recovers."
For borrowers, avoiding foreclosure means they get to keep their homes and
reduce damage to their credit.
"What we tried to do is figure out the best way to create market incentives for
all the parties involved," Petrasic said.
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Bishop DiMarzio Launches
Series of Workshops on Mortgage Crisis
The Full Story
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio invites you to:
The Housing Crisis: How it Affects You, How it Affects Our
Neighborhood
A series of workshops to address the sub-prime mortgage crisis and predatory
lending. Learn more about mortgages and foreclosures. Anyone can participate.
Available Sessions:
February 24, 9 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. (English)
St. Catherine of Sienna R.C. Church, Downstairs Hall, 118-22 Riverton Street,
St. Albans, NY 11412
February 24, 10:15 a.m. (English)
St. Fortunata R.C. Church, School Auditorium, 2609 Linden Blvd., Brooklyn, NY
11208
March 9, 11 a.m. (Creole) and 12:30 p.m. (English)
Holy Family R.C. Church, School Auditorium, 9719 Flatlands Ave., Brooklyn, NY
11236
March 30, 11 a.m. (English) and 12:45 p.m. (Spanish)
St. Leo R.C. Church, 104-05 49th Ave., Corona, NY 11368
April 6, 6:30 p.m. (English) and 8:30 p.m. (Creole)
St. Therese of Lisieux R.C. Church, School Auditorium, 1281 Troy Ave., Brooklyn,
NY 11203
April 20, 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. (English)
Christ the King R.C. Church, Gymnasium, 145-39 Farmers Blvd., Springfield
Gardens, NY 11434*
April 27, 10:45 a.m. (English) and 12:30 p.m. (Spanish)
St. Barbara R.C. Church, School Auditorium, 138 Bleecker St., Brooklyn, NY 11221
April 27, 11:30 a.m. (English), 12 p.m. (Spanish) and 1:15
p.m. (English)
Our Lady of Perpetual Help R.C. Church, Church Hall, 111-50 115th St., S. Ozone
Park, NY 11420*
May 21, 7:30 p.m. (English/Spanish)
St. Michael-St. Malachy R.C. Church, St. Michael Church Hall, 225 Jerome St.
Brooklyn, NY 11207
June 1, 11 a.m. (Spanish) and 1:00 p.m. (English)
St. Gabriel R.C. Church, Auditorium, 26-26 98th Street, E. Elmhurst, NY, 11269
Co-sponsored by: Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Catholic Charities Diocese of
Brooklyn and Queens; Neighborhood Economic Development and Advocacy Project
(NEDAP); Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS); ACORN; Brooklyn and Queens Legal
Services; Senator Charles Schumer; Assemblyman Vito Lopez
* Southeast Queens
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New York State Issues 2007 Housing Report to Document
Housing Resources and Spending
The Full Story
NEW YORK...Thursday, March 27, 2008...New York State today issued its first
annual Housing Report that documents where the State spends its housing
resources and where its housing resources come from. The Report says that New
York produced, preserved or assisted more than 27,000 households in
2007—including both rental and homeownership units.
“By bringing together information which is normally spread out over multiple
agencies, we ensure greater accountability and transparency and make certain our
State’s Dollars go further,” said Priscilla Almodovar, President and Chief
Executive Officer of “nyhomes” and Deborah Van Amerongen, Commissioner of the
Division of Housing and Community Renewal, in their letter introducing the
report.
“This report succinctly describes the federal and state resources spent on
permanent affordable housing, as well as the number of permanent affordable
housing units created, preserved or assisted through the programs of our state
agencies in 2006 and 2007.”
The Report establishes a baseline that can be a point of comparison for
future state efforts to create and preserve affordable housing. The Report was
compiled by the staff of DHCR and the agencies that make up “nyhomes,” including
the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA)
and the Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC).
The Report also sets out the State’s housing goals for 2008. They include:
• Continued expansion of agency collaboration;
• Greater use of public/private partnerships to better leverage scarce
public dollars; and
• Use of State’s resources to promote a “green” agenda that will enhance
energy efficiency and “create healthier and more sustainable homes for our
citizens.”
Despite the challenges facing State housing policies—including the subprime
crisis,
tightening credit and steadily rising construction costs—the state remains
“committed to
making New York a leader among states in providing quality housing for all of
its
citizens,” the Report says.
According to the Report, the State created, preserved or assisted 27,518
affordable housing units in 2007—including 17,722 homeownership units and 9,436
multi-family rental units.
Total resources expended in 2007 were more than $2.65 billion—a $1 billion
increase compared to 2006. These include tax-exempt bonds used to finance
multi-family and single family mortgages; Federal housing programs, including
Low Income Housing Tax Credits; credit enhancement provided by SONYMA’s Mortgage
Insurance Fund; and State program resources.
The Housing Report can be downloaded from the agencies’ web sites:
www.nyhomes.org and
www.dhcr.state.ny.us.
To obtain a copy, go to:
http://www.nyhomes.org/docs/nys_housing_report_march_2008.pdf
or call 800-382-HOME (4663).
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