Cities and urban counties used 27% of their Community Development Block Grants directly for housing projects in fiscal year 2005, while smaller communities used only 17% of their allotment for housing, according to a Government Accountability Office report.The GAO shows that the cities and urban counties spent 24% of their CDBG funds on public improvements (such as water lines and street improvements) and 17% on administration and planning. They also used the funds to a lesser extent for public services, acquisition of property, and economic development, which is supposed to benefit low- to moderate-income people. Smaller communities used 54% of their CDBG funds for public improvements and 15% for economic development. Congress provided $4.2 billion in CDBG spending in fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2006, not including special funding provided to Gulf Coast states for housing and community development projects in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Congress is likely to approve $4.2 billion for fiscal 2007, even though the Bush administration has requested a $1.2 billion cut.
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Ohio-based Liberty Home Mortgage joins several companies who started using a more modernized FICO credit score for nonconforming mortgage originations recently.
8h ago -
The CFPB has dissolved the Office of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending and eliminated the job of associate director in a move that impacts how it designates nonbanks for supervision.
9h ago -
The plan that the Federal Housing Finance Agency floated calls for Freddie Mac to actively invest in some new closed-end seconds as cash-out refinancing subsides.
April 17 -
The push comes amid what one expert highlighted as lax funding efforts for two Department of Housing and Urban Development grant programs.
April 17 -
Conventional lending drove volumes higher, particularly in the purchase market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
April 17 -
Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.
April 16