San Diego Union Tribune – There are many myths associated with HUD-approved counselors.  Here are some common ones busted to give homeowners an idea of the benefits and limits of their services.

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HUD and the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury released the December edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard this week.  Data in the Scorecard show some subtle improvements in the market over the past year, but underscore fragility as the overall outlook remains mixed. For example, new and existing home sales rose compared with the prior month and remain higher than a year ago, and homes are more affordable than they have been since 1971. Median-income families today have nearly double the funds needed to cover the cost of the average home.  However, home prices showed a slight dip from the prior month and remain below year ago levels.

The December Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

• More than 5.5 million modification arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of November 2011 – including more than 1.7 million HAMP trial modification starts and more than 1.1 million FHA loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions.
• Nearly 910,000 homeowners have received a HAMP permanent modification to date, saving an estimated $9.9 billion in monthly mortgage payments. The Administration’s programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than 2.6 million proprietary mortgage modifications through November.

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HUD recently announced the launch of the HUD Language Line, a telephone language service pilot that will offer live, one-on-one interpretation services in more than 175 languages. Accessible throughout the nation, the language line will help HUD staff to better communicate with Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals and families about HUD housing programs, services, and activities.

The pilot program will run through September 2012. HUD staff across the nation will be able to use the HUD Language Line to provide non-English-speaking individuals and families with information about fair housing, homeownership, lead abatement, housing assistance, and other HUD programs and services. When a person with limited English proficiency contacts the Department, the HUD staff person taking the call will contact the Language Line and speak with a live operator, who will connect the caller and HUD staff person with an interpreter who speaks the caller’s language.

HUD also offers a Limited English Proficiency website to promote equal access to housing programs by providing important HUD documents in 18 different languages. HUD’s expanded LEP website features factsheets, housing brochures and other HUD forms in Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, Creole, Farsi, French, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, in addition to English.

The site offers brochures on fair housing, model lease agreements, information about HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), and Resident Rights and Responsibilities. The larger LEP initiative is in response to Executive Order 13166, which requires all federal, local and state agencies that receive federal funding to ensure that people with limited language skills have meaningful access to government programs and services.

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San Diego Union-Tribune – A leading official at the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has echoed President Obama’s push to reform mortgage refinancing to help borrowers take advantage of historically low rates and lower their monthly payments.

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HUD and the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury recently released the September edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard.  The latest housing data offer continued mixed signals as home prices improved for the fourth consecutive month, but showed continued strain from foreclosures and distressed sales. Also, mortgage defaults and foreclosure completions continued a downward trend as more homeowners were able to secure mortgage relief.

The September Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

• Though August home prices as reported by S&P/Case-Shiller and FHFA improved for the fourth consecutive month after several previous months of decline, the latest housing data is a mixed bag with home prices showing continued strain from foreclosures and distressed sales. Foreclosure completions continued a downward trend, as mortgage aid programs are helping homeowners, although some of the decline remains due to lender processing issues delaying some foreclosure actions.
• The Administration’s recovery efforts continue to help millions of families deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  More than 5.1 million modification arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of August 2011 – including nearly 1.7 million HAMP trial modification starts, more than 1 million FHA loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions, and more than 2.4 million proprietary modifications under HOPE Now. 
• More than 75 percent of eligible homeowners entering a HAMP trial modification since June 1, 2010, received a permanent modification, with an average trial period of 3.5 months. Homeowners in HAMP permanent modifications have saved over $8.3 billion to date. View the August HAMP Servicer Performance Report. 

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HUD has awarded more than $28 million to 84 fair housing organizations and other non-profit agencies in 33 states and the District of Columbia to assist people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination.  Six of the recipients are located in California.

The grants are funded through HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) and will be used to investigate allegations of housing discrimination, and work to promote equal housing opportunities.

HUD is awarding FHIP grants to the following California agencies:

• Inland Mediation Board, Rancho Cucamonga
• California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., San Francisco
• Fair Housing Council of Central California, Fresno
• Southern California Housing Rights Center, Los Angeles
• Greater Napa Fair Housing Center, Napa
• Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Oakland

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HUD and the Dept. of the Treasury have released the July edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard.

The report found that in June, 4.4 percent of prime mortgages were at least 30 days late, compared with 5.9 percent in 2010. Also, the rate of modifications moving from trial to permanent increased. The rate of modifications moving from trial to permanent is up to 74 percent, and the average time to convert from a trial to permanent modification is down to 3.5 months. Homeowners in HAMP modifications continue to perform well over time, with re-default rates lower than those in industry modifications.

The scorecard also features a bimonthly regional report. The July report highlighted the market strength in Riverside, Calif., and surrounding communities. According to the regional spotlight, through May 2011, approximately 131,000 mortgage assistance interventions have been offered to homeowners in the Riverside metropolitan area.

The share of Riverside-area mortgages 90 or more days delinquent dropped from 17 percent to 12 percent over the past year. Completed foreclosures also declined from 9,400 in the first quarter of 2010 to 7,600 in the first quarter of 2011, although lender process reviews continue to affect foreclosure completions locally and nationally.