Member Update
CEDAM News & Views: November 26,
2007 | |
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| CEDAM News... |
Final MSHDA Board Meeting re:
QAP - THIS WEDNESDAY
This Wednesday,
November 28, MSHDA will hold its final discussion of the draft
LIHTC Qualified Allocation Plan at its board meeting at
the MSHDA office in Lansing. (Past comments made by CEDAM on
the QAP can be found here.)
CEDAM members have been doing a fantastic job
representing the interests of the affordable housing industry
at the various meetings and hearings throughout the
duration of this process. We want to thank you for your time,
energy, and dedication.
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| State Politics &
Policy... |
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Upcoming Predatory Lending
Hearing
On
Tuesday, November 27th the House Committee on
Banking and Financial Services will be holding an additional
hearing for consumers. CEDAM is bringing in Jim
Rokakis, Treasurer of Cuyahoga County in Ohio, to testify before
the committee to offer his expertise on predatory lending. He
has taken a lead role in addressing the foreclosure crisis in
his county and state by helping to write and pass
legislation to facilitate the foreclosure process of abandoned
properties and creating a foreclosure prevention program.
Mr. Rokakis also wrote an article in the Washington Post,
The Shadow of Debt: Slavic
Village is Fast Becoming a Ghost Town. It's Not
Alone., which describes the effects foreclosure
has on neighborhoods and communities. We hope you will attend
the hearing, which is scheduled for 10:30am in Room
326 of the House Office Building.
Please Contact Alicia, Policy Analyst,
with any
questions. |
| National Politics &
Policy... |
HR
3915: The Mortgage Reform & Anti-Predatory Lending Act of
2007
The Mortgage Reform and
Anti-Predatory Lending Act passed the House of Representatives
on November 15th. Although it offers several strong measures
to curb predatory lending practices, it is a much watered
down version of the desired bill in several respects.
The strengths of the bill
include:
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Obligation for lenders to conduct an ability
to repay analysis
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Prohibition of prepayment penalties on
subprime loans
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Requirement of mandatory arbitration and
single premium credit
insurance on all
loans
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Clamp down on appraiser and servicer
abuse
The bill does not, however, have strong
enforcement measures, such as:
- Wall Street does not have much
accountability or liability for financing predatory
lending
- State law is preempted in regards to Wall
Street accountability
The bill is now off to the Senate for review.
CEDAM will continue to update you on the bill's progress. If
you have any questions please contact Alicia, Policy Analyst.
National Housing Trust
Community Dev. Fund is supporting GREEN
projects
KnowledgePlex
- Through its lending affiliate, the National Housing
Trust Community Development Fund, the National Housing Trust
recently created a loan fund to provide below-market
predevelopment and interim development loans for affordable
housing rehabilitation projects seeking to incorporate green
building techniques. Under the Green Affordable Housing
Preservation Lending Initiative, a portion of the loan will be
forgiven when the developer demonstrates that it has
incorporated practical, environmentally friendly design
elements in a property's rehabilitation plan. Please read
this for more
information on the initiative, which is supported by the Home
Depot Foundation.
 Interested in information on Vacant
Properties reclamation?
All the powerpoints from the 2007 National Vacant
Properties conference held in Pittsburgh during the last week
of September are now online.
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| Members & Partners
Spotlight... |
|
 Last week, we mentioned our member,
the Grandmont Rosedale
Development Corporation, and a Detroit neighborhood
mural that they helped to organize the painting of by a
nationally-recognized artist. However, we did not have a
picture of the mural to show off its uniqueness - now that we
do, here it is!
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Resources, Trainings, and
Events... |
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MSHDA Community
Assistance Team - Downtown workshop
schedule
 Last year, MSHDA's Community Assistance
Team (CATeam) did five regional downtown workshops across the
state which were so well attended, this year they are
expanding the amount and
the content!
This year, the workshops will not only include
CATeam programs, but programs and tools across other MSHDA
divisions that can have a tremendously positive effect on
Michigan's downtowns - check out the agenda. Representatives from MSHDA's Multi-Family
Development, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and Office of
Community Development divisions will present and answer
questions at every workshop.
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Locations: Alpena, Marquette, Manistee,
Midland, Kalamazoo, Lapeer, and Ann
Arbor
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Dates: Dependent upon the location, the
workshops run from January 8 - January
29.
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Registration: The form is due by Monday, December 17, 2007 for all
locations.
For
information on other upcoming training opportunities, don't
forget to visit MITTAC
- the Michigan Training and Technical Assistance
Collaborative
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CEDAM's
Career
Corner is also
frequently updated with job openings in the Community Economic
Development industry. New positions are added
often! |
Compliments of CEDAM
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