June 2012

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    Too Much Measurement

    I'm a data guy. I loved statistics in grad school. I crank through spreadsheets on a daily basis. I've coordinated two national surveys on community land trusts and co-authored an analysis of foreclosure data for the Lincoln Institute. I work…

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    Achieving that “Last Mile” Impact

    I like chocolate chocolate chip and I like peanut butter and chocolate but I’ll take a stand and say that twice as much of one great thing—chocolate—is more awesome than two great things that taste great together. My case in…

  • We Can Save Homeownership

    It’s no secret: homeownership in America is in trouble. If this crucial part of the American Dream is worth saving—and it is—it’s also no secret how to start saving it. Bear in mind that the current housing crisis hasn’t hit…

  • Is Demo a Good Use of AG Settlement Funds?

    While the $25 billion national mortgage settlement is widely viewed as a "first step" toward fixing a larger system that resulted widespread foreclosures and $700 billion lost in home value in 2011 alone, we're now seeing plans that seek to…

  • Peoria LISC

    What does it mean when the country's largest community development intermediary opens its first new office in 15 years in a middling city like Peoria, Ill?  In May, the Peoria-based Caterpillar Foundation gave the Local Support Initiatives Corp., better known…

  • Housing Seniors, One Person at a Time

    "How many people in the room consider their home a safe and affordable place to live?" I asked, and not one person raised a hand. I was at the B. S. Ricks Memorial Library, in Yazoo City, Miss., conducting a…

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    Those Who Lived Here Before Us

    One question most of us probably don't ask when we're thinking of renting or buying a home is, who were the people who lived here before us? I lived in many different rental properties in urban areas over the years and the…

  • Preserving and Improving Affordable 2- to 4-unit Properties

    In a Shelterforce-hosted roundtable discussion of leading research and policy experts to looking at what makes housing affordable and how the nationwide housing crisis changed the affordable housing landscape, NHI senior fellow Alan Mallach expressed some alarm when it came…

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    It Came from Chicago!

    Let's just come right out and say it: New York City is the best. At everything. We are the smartest, the hardest working, the most creative, and the best-looking. If you trace every social innovation of the past century back…

  • Six Steps to Stabilize High-Foreclosure Neighborhoods

    1. Don't Let the Lenders Lie. When lenders and servicers say they can't modify the principal on a loan because it's in a security and their securitization agreements don't let them, they're lying. They may not be doing it on…

  • Engagement Before Efficiency

    I recently stepped down from my role as the executive director of a community development corporation and I'm in the process of transitioning from a single-organization focus, as I've spent the past 15+ years, to working with multiple organizations in…

  • Principal Forgiveness: Not a Complicated Matter

    I’m looking at loan modification papers for homeowners who recently came to ESOP for help on their delinquent mortgage.  I’m struggling to understand what I’m looking at because it seems to be a mistake.  It must be a mistake.  A…

  • Defining “Rural” for USDA’s Housing Programs

    This part is simple: a property must be in a rural place to be eligible for USDA rural housing funding. Beyond that simple statement, things get complicated. What places are rural, and why does it matter? Congress used three characteristics…

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    The Challenge of Scattered-Site Rental Management

    In the winter 2011 issue of Shelterforce we looked at the difficult challenge behind managing scatttered-site rental housing by nonprofits, and the related costs—from trash removal, to travel time and gas for maintenance crews—and the descreased management efficiency when units are…

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    The Choo-Choo and the Bus

    My son, who is approaching 2 years of age, is obsessed with trains. And it's no wonder: every day as many as 10 freight trains whistle and chug their way through our town, down a track that runs parallel to…

  • Going Upstream, Bulk Note Purchase Programs Look to Keep Families in Their Homes

    The latest issue of Shelterforce examines a handful of short sale and bulk note purchase programs—Second Opporunity of Arizona, the Mortgage Resolution Fund, Oregon's Loan Refinancing Assistance Pilot Project—that are all designed to keep a homeowner in their home with a…

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    The Slow Building Movement

    Standing at the northern gateway of Milwaukee’s Fifth Ward and the confluence of the Menomonee and Milwaukee Rivers is a highly-visible, vacant brick structure with all the signs of promise. The Burnham Building, with its solid construction, unprecedented views, nearby…

  • Housing the Political Agenda

    It's official, at least it is to you. In order to get housing on the agenda this election cycle, we have to demand our candidates to take a stand. It's not hard—in fact, it's quite easy—to share Rooflines blogger Greg…

  • FHFA: Get in the Business of Restoring Home Opportunity

    It is disheartening to watch the enormous diversion of attention and energy focused on persuading the Federal Housing Finance Agency to give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the green light to use a proven tool – principal reduction – to…