Housing

A proposed 50% expansion to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program would yield new opportunities for banks to finance development projects and meet their Community Reinvestment Act obligations.

President Obama has signed a housing reform bill that will open the door for welfare recipients to use federal rent vouchers to purchase manufactured homes and become homeowners.

Mortgage interest deduction limit applies on per taxpayer basis.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reached an agreement with Citizens Bank to settle allegations that the bank discriminated against a woman on maternity leave.

The Democratic and Republican platforms adopted at this year's party conventions take a more forward-looking approach to housing issues than they did four years ago. But they have distinctly different views on the government's role in maintaining a robust mortgage industry.

Democrats will adopt a party platform this week that omits most references to a need for continued post-housing crisis reforms, and instead focuses on expanding access to mortgage credit and support for industry regulation.

Regulators sought to limit improper contact between lenders and appraisers, but policies of the two mortgage giants encourage the kind of practices that contributed to the housing crisis.

The official platform of the Republican Party has softened language calling for the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while continuing to demand reform of the government-sponsored enterprises.

There were patterns of racial disparities in mortgage originations in the St. Louis, Milwaukee and Minneapolis metropolitan statistical areas, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Karl "Chip" Case, the co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of home prices, has died at 69.