We welcome Bernell Grier, CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, Inc. to the growing list of Contributors to the MKCREATIVEnonprofit Blog. Ms. Grier was appointed CEO in May of last year, having been COO of the housing organization since 2004. She is writing about proposed cuts in government funding to community-development […]
HAMP, or ‘Extend and Pretend,’ Continues To Hurt Troubled Mortgage Holders
We drew up a report about the Obama Administration’s ‘Home Affordable Modifications Program‘ (HAMP) in early August this year, in which we looked at news stories and even the government’s own figures that demonstrated the slow start, and middle stretch, the program was having. The program was meant to offer those who were behind on […]
The Foreclosure Crisis: The Same, But Different
The economic news relayed via our blog this week has not been much for confidence building, and we close the week with reports of a bleak twist in the ongoing foreclosure crisis. The news of the past couple of weeks has been that reporters and most of the fifty states’ attorneys general have been pursuing […]
Foreclosures Slowly Start Moving Again, Though Distrust Remains
A week or so ago, Bank of America announced it would put a hold on its foreclosure proceedings while it reviewed the processes that moved the foreclosure claims past lawyers, whose signatures were required. Other financial institutes followed suit. The decision came in the midst of growing fears that the foreclosures on tens of thousands […]
Foreclosure Assistance To Banks Almost Slips Past Obama Administration
President Obama enacted a ‘pocket veto’ earlier today, blocking a bill coming from Congress (HR3808) that would have sped up the status of numerous foreclosure proceedings. The pitch for the bill was that it would ease interstate commerce by allowing states to expedite each others’ foreclosure confirmations, and thus help clear out the backlog of […]
Housing Market Continues The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The shocking number of foreclosed houses in July, over 90,000, has sent shockwaves through the economy – especially the Stock Market, as the Dow Jones Average has been near or below 10,000 the last few days (having reached highs just over 14000 a week ago). Investors worry about perceptions of future growth. The surprise of […]
Recent Reports of Administration’s Efforts To End Foreclosure: “Extend And Pretend”
With midterm elections coming in November, and with the Democrats generally sailing against the political winds, reports about the difficulties and inadequacies of the Obama Administrations project “Making Home Affordable” (MHA) are likely to slacken further the party’s sails. The MHA program was set up in February 2009 as offering “opportunities to modify or refinance […]
NeighborWorks Offers $119 Million For Community Development
After yesterday’s report about the trickle of federal recovery aid being used to assist mortgage holders on the brink of foreclosure, we can return to the topic of the housing crisis with some much better news. NeighborWorks America has announced that it will be distributing $119 million in grants for this year. The amount is […]
