Real Estate Latino (Bill Arce)

Sub-prime mortgages are no longer the only one thing responsible for foreclosures. Prime mortgage borrowers are being affected too.

Job losses are affecting homeowners, including those with low rate prime mortgages. Freddie Mac reported last year that 46% of foreclosures in June wee related to loss of income or unemployment.

Inman News reported a jump in prime-loan foreclosures from January to February.

HOPE NOW put the number of foreclosure starts on prime loans during February at 157,000, a 25 percent increase from the month before. Foreclosure starts on subprime loans fell by 5 percent, to 86,000.

The record 243,000 foreclosure starts recorded in February represented a 12 percent increase from the month before and a 36 percent increase from a year ago.

The good news is that NOT every home headed for foreclosure ends up loosing their homes. However, with more homeowners waiting for help assistance can get a little too late for those people who lost their income. It is imperative that lenders step up and negotiate a positive loan workout that would allow the homeowners to stay remain in home while they are actively looking for a job.

There is no dough that this homeownership nightmare in part started because of irresponsible lending, but that should not be a reason to punish responsible homeowners with fully documented prime mortgage who fall on victims of this national cause. Homeownership is the foundation of our society if we don't do something to preserve that foundation, future generations will be suffering for our mistakes.

Comments? - Thought? Bill.arce@realestatelatino.com

If you care about Housing Trust Fund monies, now is the time

to call, email, or contact your legislators in every way possible-

the Florida HousingCoalition has delivered the latest

Housing News Journal, which has a half dozen articles

explaining the importance of funding affordable housing

for our economic recovery. If you want to have those talking

points click here: www.flhousing.org

-- otherwise, here's the strong and simple message:

Please Do Not Sweep Housing Trust Fund Monies!

Contact Senate President Jeff Atwater at atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov

For further contact information click here:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&District_Num_Link=025&Submenu=1&Tab=legislators&chamber=Senate&

House Speaker Larry Cretul contact information, click:

http://www.myfloridahouse.com/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4264&SessionId=61

Click here to find your House members:

http://www.myfloridahouse.com/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx

Click here to find your Senators:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Tab=legislators&CFID=21266569&CFTOKEN=95639942

The Florida Legislature Needs to Hear from You Now.

THANK YOU for doing your part to save the state and

local housing trust funds.

From: HUD USER News

On March 19, HUD released the estimated median family
incomes (MFIs) and income limits for Fiscal Year (FY)
2009. MFIs are used as the basis for income limits in
several HUD programs (including the Public Housing,
Housing Choice Voucher, CDBG, and HOME programs), as well
as in programs run by the Department of Agriculture, the
Department of Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and
Government Sponsored Enterprises.

The FY 2009 estimates are calculated for 532 metropolitan
and 2,043 nonmetropolitan areas in the U.S. and its
territories, using the Fair Market Rent area definitions
applied in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.
The FY 2009 MFIs are derived from 2000 Census data
updated with local and state American Community Survey
2005-2007 multiyear data.

The FY 2009 HUD income estimates and limits, a
documentation system that explains the derivation of each
area's limit and median income estimate, links to the
current Income Limits Area Definitions, and other useful
information are available as a free download from HUD
USER at www.huduser.org/datasets/il/il09/index.html.

In addition to the traditional Income Limits described
above, HUD has developed a new set of income limits
specifically for projects that rely upon Internal Revenue
Code Section 42 Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and
Section 142 projects financed with tax-exempt housing
bonds. Projects in these two categories are now referred
to by HUD as Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSPs).
The FY 2009 HUD MTSP income limits, a documentation
system that explains the derivation of each area's MTSP
limit and median income estimate, and other useful
information are available as free downloads from HUD USER
at www.huduser.org/datasets/mtsp.html.

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research has
released a new issue of U.S. Housing Market Conditions
for the fourth quarter of 2008. The report contains an
analysis of housing production, marketing, affordability
and interest rates, and the multifamily housing sector,
and provides comparisons to both the previous quarter
and the third quarter of 2008. This issue presents
updated national data, overviews of economic and housing
market trends within each HUD region, and historical
trends in national and regional housing markets. The
feature article explores the history and status of HUD's
local housing market analyses.

In-depth housing market profiles are also drawn for the
following areas: Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas; Houston-
Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi;
Lafayette, Louisiana; Madison, Wisconsin; Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma; Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska-Iowa; Richmond,
Virginia; San Francisco, California; Seattle,
Washington; Springfield, Missouri; and Tucson, Arizona.

This and previous U.S. Housing Market Conditions reports
are now available online and can be downloaded for free
at www.huduser.org/periodicals/ushmc.html. Printed
copies can be ordered at no cost from the HUD USER
Clearinghouse by calling 800-245-2691, option 1.

By Bill Arce

RealEstateLatino.com

Alejandra Medina, a CHCI's HOGAR fellow class of 2007-2009 just published a paper on the institute website named "The Future of Latino Homeownership." The paper makes reference how Latinos are facing the current economy and how the housing crisis had become another challenging barrier to Latino homeownership.

Miss. Medina also proposed in her paper a response to the crisis including not just real estate professionals. The fellow goes further and recommends Latinos leaders in the housing community to facilitate communication between their organizations and the real estate industry to discuss how counseling can help future homebuyers can help obtain and long maintain their homes, among other recommendations.

The HOGAR fellow, who will graduate from the institute this year, also reports on the necessity to prevent the crisis, so it won't happen again. She highlights, that now more than ever the Latino consumers must have access to a better-trained and trusted real estate advisor. This recommendation comes along with NAHREP code of Honor "En Confianza" that calls to reinstate the trust lost after the real estate debacle. In general the report is very easy to read and offer a god inside of what is happening in our community today, I encourage you to read it.

If you would like to read a copy of this report, please visit www.chci.org.