Monarch Housing’s Blog!

Includes Housing Trust Fund!

Includes $3.9 Billion in CDBG funds!

Includes a 10% increase in tax credit allocations!

NJ Delegation votes 9-4 in favor!

On July 23, 2008, the House approved the bill by a vote of 272 to 152 H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Prior to the vote President Bush announced that he would sign the legislation citing an urgent need to restore market confidence in the two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. tWith Mr. Bush’s support the bill will become law after final passage by the Senate, possibly Friday or Saturday.

Final details will be available later this week.

The New Jersey House delegation voted 9 to 4 in favor of the bill. The specific vote of each member was:

Read the rest of this entry »

Includes Housing Trust Fund!

Includes $3.9 Billion in CDBG funds!

Includes a 10% increase in tax credit allocations!

On Friday July 11, 2008, the US Senate voted to approve HR 3221 by a vote of 63 to 5. The next step will be to reconcile the differences between the Senate and House bills. According to the NY Times, “the House approved its version in May, and though the White House has issued a formal veto threat - and repeated it on Friday - administration officials have indicated that a compromise was likely. Previous votes on the housing bills showed that a presidential veto could easily be overridden.”

The primary focus of the legislation will be to “let the Federal Housing Administration back up to $300 billion in new loans, enabling lenders and borrowers now saddled with unaffordable mortgages to refinance them and assume more manageable 30-year fixed-rate loans. To take part in the program, lenders would have to lower each debt obligation to 85 percent of a home’s current value.” It also includes dedicated funding for the National Housing Trust Fund, $3.9 billion in CDBG funds and an increase in the allocation formula for low income housing tax credits.

Read the rest of this entry »

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, today announced that the Committee passed “The Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008,” legislation which includes major efforts to help prevent the rising number of foreclosures, to create more affordable housing for Americans, and to reform the regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in order to improve their role in the housing finance system. The legislation passed by a vote of 19-2.

In an effort to craft a bill that would be supported by both Democrats and Republicans the funding for the proposed National Housing Trust Fund was tapped to pay for the mortgage refinancing included in the legislation. According to the NY Times, “that $500 million would be taken from a new affordable housing fund, which would collect slightly less than half a cent on every dollar of mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.” This funding would be used for one year to insure mortgages through the FHA, then for two more years would be used partly for mortgage insurance and partly for a National Housing Trust Fund, then beginning in the fourth year would be used completely for the National Housing Trust Fund.

Click here for the Manager’s Amendment to the bill.

To read the full bill click here.

To read our previous posts on this subject click here.

On October 10, 2007, the House of Representatives approved the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund H.R. 2895. The vote was 264 in favor, 148 opposed and nine not voting. Every member of the New Jersey delegation voted in favor except Congress member Scott Garrett. To view the full voting record for all members of the House of Representatives click here.

The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007. H. R. 2895 would establish a Trust Fund to construct, rehabilitate, and preserve 1.5 million units of housing over the next 10 years. At least 75% of the new resources must produce or preserve housing affordable to extremely low income people. This would be the first new housing production program since 1990 and the only one focused on housing for households with the lowest incomes.

On Wednesday, October 10, the full House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007. H.R. 2895 would establish a Trust Fund to construct, rehabilitate, and preserve 1.5 million units of housing over the next 10 years. At least 75% of the new resources must produce or preserve housing affordable to extremely low income people. This would be the first new housing production program since 1990 and the only one focused on housing for households with the lowest incomes.

The following call to action is from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Please call your House Members TODAY through WEDNESDAY and ask them to vote for H.R. 2895.

House offices can be reached via the Capitol Switchboard at 1-877-210-5351.

Call and ask the staff person who works on housing issues to vote for H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act, when it is considered by the House on October 10.

Describe how your community has been successful at moving people who have become homeless into permanent housing and demonstrate what you would be able to accomplish with more affordable housing resources. Materials and Talking Points can be found by clicking here.