Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago’s Downpayment Plus program is officially open for reservations.  If your institution is a member of FHLBC, please check out our website for information regarding enrollment and an overview of the program.

www.wphd-dpp.org

Bank of America allegedly applied discriminatory lending requirements for borrowers with disabilities

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that it is charging Bank of America with discriminating against homebuyers with disabilities.  HUD alleges that Bank of America imposed unnecessary and burdensome requirements on borrowers who relied on disability income to qualify for their home loans and required some disabled borrowers to provide physician statements to qualify for home mortgage loans.

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in the terms and conditions of a loan to an individual based on a disability, including imposing different application or qualification criteria, and makes it illegal to inquire about the nature or severity of a disability except in limited circumstances not applicable here.

“Holding homebuyers with disabilities to a higher standard just because they rely on disability payments as a source of income is against the law,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.  “Mortgage companies may verify income and have eligibility standards but they may not single out homebuyers with disabilities to delay or deny financing when they are otherwise eligible.”

HUD’s charge is based on a “Secretary-initiated investigation,” and the investigation of complaints filed by two individual borrowers in Michigan and one borrower in Wisconsin who claimed that Bank of America required them to provide personal medical information and documentation regarding their disability and proof of continuance of their Social Security payment in order to qualify for a home mortgage loan.  The charge is also being issued as part of the work being conducted by the Federal Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s non-discrimination working group.

According to HUD’s charge, Bank of America allegedly asked some borrowers for proof of their disabilities and sought evidence of the continuation of their Social Security income before approving loans, after first denying them. The matter will now be handled by the Department of Justice.

FHEO and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate approximately 10,000 housing discrimination complaints annually. People who believe they are the victims of housing discrimination should contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777 (voice), (800) 927-9275 (TTY).

HUD AWARDS $20 MILLION IN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP LOCAL COMMUNITIES STABILIZE NEIGHBORHOODS HARD-HIT BY FORECLOSURE

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $20 million in technical assistance funding to 12 organizations that will, in turn, help local communities across this country stabilize neighborhoods hard-hit by foreclosure through HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

“This assistance can make all the difference for communities struggling against abandonment and blight,” said Mercedes Márquez, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. “The funds we award today will offer critical assistance to NSP grantees as they work to target their funds in a way that has the greatest impact at the neighborhood level.”

The funding agreements announced today are provided through HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Program, as part of the NSP3 allocation, authorized under Dodd-Frank, and is continuation of the technical assistance provided under NSP2, authorized under ARRA. The purpose of this technical assistance is to provide the highest level of performance among NSP grantees. HUD is making the following technical assistance awards:

NSP technical assistance and capacity building is an assessment-based and outcome-focused delivery system. Its key objectives are to improve grantees’ ability to: (1) assess conditions in the affordable segment of their local housing market; (2) design and appropriately implement neighborhood stabilization programs based upon an accurate assessment of the affordable segment of their local housing market; (3) increase organizational capacity to leverage private and public dollars; (4)’ understand and comply with statutory and regulatory requirements; and (5) impact vacancy rates in target areas. These awards allow HUD to deploy experts, based on grantee need, to achieve these objectives.

The funds awarded today are part of Office of Community Planning and Development’s new OneCPD Integrated Practitioner Assistance System. One CPD represents a fundamental change in the way HUD’s traditional program-specific technical assistance has been structured and delivered over the years. This approach is intended to build the kind of grantee management systems and capacity necessary to successfully carry out comprehensive and sustainable place-based development and revitalization strategies.

OneCPD allows grantees to tell their story of accomplishment by measuring not only the outputs of this technical and capacity building assistance but the outcomes and the impact on their communities as well. The technical and capacity building assistance awards announced today are provided through the Department’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD).

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has done a preliminary analysis of HUD’s FY 2013 budget request for the three major rental assistance programs, including the savings and other relevant policy proposals, as well as a short description of the budget and appropriations outlook for the year.  Click here for more details.