Tag Archives: housing

NPR reports: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as of Thursday, has ended a new mortgage-rescue program that so far has helped about 20,000 veterans avoid foreclosure and keep their homes. The move leaves millions of military veterans with far worse options than most other American homeowners if they run into trouble paying their home loans. And it comes at …

Wired reports: A young man with no government experience who has yet to even complete his undergraduate degree is working for Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and has been tasked with using artificial intelligence to rewrite the agency’s rules and regulations. Christopher Sweet was introduced to HUD employees as being originally from …

Bloomberg News reports: The Trump administration is planning to lay off at least 40% of the workers at the federal agency that provides mortgage insurance on loans for people who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for one, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans. The FHA is one of the largest mortgage insurers in the world and has insured more …

Housing Wire reports: As President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Scott Turner will be questioned on Thursday by lawmakers of both parties in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. But ahead of that hearing, a familiar Trump foe — Sen. Elizabeth …

Ars Technica reports: The US Justice Department today announced it filed an antitrust lawsuit against “six of the nation’s largest landlords for participating in algorithmic pricing schemes that harmed renters.” The US previously sued RealPage, a software maker accused of helping landlords collectively set prices by giving them access to competitors’ nonpublic pricing and occupancy information. The original version of …

Gothamist reports: What’s the most expensive neighborhood for rentals in New York City? That would be Tribeca, which has a median asking rent of $8,295, according to listing service StreetEasy, which has released a year end analysis of 2024’s residential real estate trends. In second place is SoHo ($6,100), and the Flatiron District came in third ($5,900). The report also …

ProPublica reports: As Donald Trump’s nominee to run the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner may soon oversee the nation’s efforts to build affordable apartments, protect poor tenants and aid the homeless. As a lawmaker in the Texas House of Representatives, Turner voted against those very initiatives. Turner supported a bill ensuring landlords could refuse apartments to …

NPR reports: Texas’ business and economic sectors say mass deportations could upend some of the state’s major industries that rely on undocumented labor, chief among them the booming construction industry. “It would devastate our industry, we wouldn’t finish our highways, we wouldn’t finish our schools,” said Stan Marek, CEO of Marek, a Houston-based commercial and residential construction giant. “Housing would …

CNN reports: President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named former NFL player and White House official Scott Turner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. If confirmed by the Senate, Turner would lead an agency that enforces fair housing laws, administers mortgage insurance to prospective homeowners and gives rental subsidies to lower-income families, among other things. Turner serves as …

Bloomberg News reports: The United States Supreme Court refused to question New York’s rent-control system, turning away two appeals that said the rules violate apartment owners’ constitutional rights. One appeal, pressed by 12 sets of property owners in New York City and Yonkers, targeted restrictions on landlords who want to reclaim rental units for personal use or convert buildings to …

CNBC reports: The Department of Justice and eight states on Friday accused software company RealPage of unlawfully scheming to undermine competition among landlords and create a monopoly that harms millions of renters. RealPage “allows landlords to manipulate, distort, and subvert market forces,” the Justice Department said in a civil complaint in U.S. District Court in North Carolina. “At bottom, RealPage …

NBC News reports: Vice President Harris’ campaign on Friday will roll out some of her housing policy proposals, including her support for efforts aimed at lowering the cost of rent and helping renters who are struggling financially, according to details obtained by NBC News from a campaign official. Harris will propose plans to stop data firms from driving up lease …

The Washington Post reports: President Biden will unveil a new proposal in Nevada on Tuesday to cap rental costs nationwide, according to three people familiar with the matter, as he works to assuage Democratic concerns about the viability of his candidacy while the Republican convention gets underway. Biden’s plan — which would need to be approved by Congress — calls …

Gainesville’s NPR affiliate reports: Pointing to concerns that it could provide housing for illegal foreign workers, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday vetoed an agriculture industry-backed bill that would have made it easier to build housing for farmworkers. “The bill’s terms apply to legal migrant farm workers, but the bill does not include the means to enforce this limitation and could …

The New York Times reports: American homeowners could see a significant drop in the cost of selling their homes after a real estate trade group agreed to a landmark deal that will eliminate a bedrock of the industry, the standard 6 percent sales commission. The National Association of Realtors, a powerful organization that has set the guidelines for home sales …

CNN reports: Florida is America’s inflation hotspot because of a persistent problem with sky-high housing costs. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area has the highest inflation rate of metro areas with more than 2.5 million residents, with a 9% inflation rate for the 12 months ended in April. That’s more than double the national average of 4%, according to data …

Gothamist reports: New York City is set to become the largest municipality to ban discrimination against someone because of a number on the scale. On Thursday, the City Council was poised to pass a measure that prohibits bias against a person because of their weight – or height – in employment, housing and other public accommodations. “People with different body …

Gothamist reports: Mayor Eric Adams opened a new window into his vision for building New York City out of the current housing crisis, with a riff on “dormitory” style accommodations generating a fair amount of backlash from fellow New Yorkers. During a conversation on Monday, Adams said he wants to “do a real examination” of the laws that require windows …

Gothamist reports: Mayor Eric Adams on Monday released details of a plan to turn empty offices into brand new apartments to help relieve New York City’s affordable housing crunch. Adams’ office conversion blueprint includes specific proposals to ease zoning restrictions and offer tax breaks to property owners. Remote work has drastically reduced the use of office space throughout New York …

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Hochul signed a bill Tuesday that paves the way for underutilized hotels in the city to be converted into apartments, giving a boost to Mayor Adams who has characterized the legislation as a critical tool for tackling New York’s housing crisis. The bill — which Adams pushed state lawmakers to pass for weeks …