Tracey's Real Estate Minute

Homeownership Threatened!

2008-08-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

Misguided “Solutions”Threaten Home Ownership!

Although H.R. 3221 was intended to “rescue” the housing industry, the elimination of downpayment assistance (DPA) programs beginning October 1st will have the opposite effect, pulling the American Dream out of reach of hard-working, credit-worthy Americans and further crippling the American housing market.
Nearly 40% of all FHA loans are originated with DPA.These Federal Housing Administration loans are not sub-prime. Without DPA programs, an estimated 50,000 families per month will be locked out of homeownership.
Targeting minorities, women-headed households, and first-time homeowners.DPA participants are diverse. Of the participants in Nehemiah, the largest DPA program, nearly half are first-time homebuyers are people of color and more than one-third are female-headed households.
A perfect storm: removing assistance and raising the hurdle.In addition to eliminating vital support for responsible homeownership, the misguided H.R. 3221 increases the downpayment requirement from 3 to 3.5 percent in an economy where stable, creditworthy families have less cash than ever.
Outraged? Act now to support new legislation that corrects this mistake in the Housing and Recovery Act. Use the tools on this site to demand that downpayment assistance be restored.

Fight to Save Downpayment Assistance!

2008-08-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

Nehemiah Launches Web Community to Amass Surge in Support for Downpayment Assistance
Today, Nehemiah Corporation of America announced the launch of http://capwiz.com/nehemia/utr/1/AXBZJBULJT/LYLZJBUMSE/2280521691, a web-based community established to mobilize the growing industry opposition to the October 1 ban on seller-funded downpayment assistance (SF-DPA). The ban on these programs was written into law by President Bush when he signed H.R. 3221 Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 on July 30, 2008.
The site will bring together families and individual homeowners as well as industry groups and local members of the real estate market including brokers, bankers, lenders, homebuilders and others to provide a central information and communication hub to fight the ban.

Importantly, the site enables visitors to directly contact local representatives and offer support for a bill introduced by Representatives Maxine Waters, Gary Miller, Al Green and Christopher Shays on July 31, 2008, that would reinstate SF-DPA. If passed and signed into law, the FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform and Risk-Based Pricing Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6694) will allow downpayment assistance to continue indefinitely.

Press Release50 Days / 50 WaysAdvocacy can take many forms—but is always intended to gain the attention of policy-makers, opinion-shapers and the American people. When it comes to saving DPA, we need to leverage your considerable expertise as housing professionals, homeownership advocates, program beneficiaries, and grassroots activists.
With downpayment assistance scheduled to end on October 1st, we need to kick out all the stops to save DPA. Enter Groundswell's 50 Days / 50 Ways strategy—one simple step that every supporter can complete each day. It's a small investment of time and talent from each of you, but with the millions of Americans touched by DPA, the effect will be tremendous.
This strategy has been designed to empower our supporters by providing easy but effective daily actions. Each will take just a few minutes as we realize homeowners and housing professionals, are busy people.
One Action Every Day to Save DPAAugust 13 Town Hall with Scott SyphaxJoin Scott Syphax, President and CEO of Nehemiah Corporation of America, for a 30-minute virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, August 13, at 10:00 AM PST / 1:00 PM EST.
We will be placing a call to you approximately 5-10 minutes prior to the actual start of the event. To join the live virtual town hall, simply stay on the line to be connected.
There is no obligation for you to join this town hall, we do feel this is a very important time in our industry and your participation would be greatly appreciated. There is no charge to you for this event and your questions and feedback will be welcomed.
Topics will include: clarification on the October 1, 2008 DPA deadline, update on our grassroots campaign and what you can do to help convince Congress to pass H.R. 6694 that will allow downpayment assistance to continue indefinitely.
If you do not receive or miss our call, the dial-in number is 1-877-269-7289 and pin is 13908. Please dial-in 5-10 minutes prior to the actual start of the event. Space is limited; if you receive a busy signal the meeting has reached capacity. Watch for additional town hall meetings this month. We cannot make any adjustments to phone numbers for the August 13 town hall. If you would like to be placed on the call list for the next town hall, send an email to marketing@getdownpayment.com.Nehemiah Corporation of America 424 N 7th Street, Suite 250Sacramento, CA 95811 Toll Free: 1-877-634-3642 http://capwiz.com/nehemia/utr/1/AXBZJBULJT/OGEUJBUMSH/2280521691 http://capwiz.com/nehemia/utr/1/AXBZJBULJT/LWIGJBUMSI/2280521691

SAVE DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE!

2008-08-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Get Downpayment Home Page

Save Dowpayment Assistance Now!

Support H.R. 6694 to Reform and Save DPA! Contact Your Elected Officials Today!

President Bush signed H.R. 3221 Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 into law on July 30, 2008. Included in this bill was the elimination of downpayment assistance (DPA) programs. Borrowers who are credit approved prior to October 1, 2008 can receive downpayment assistance and have their loan FHA-insured.While H.R. 3221 was intended to “rescue” the housing industry, the elimination of the DPA program will have the exact opposite effect of its intended purpose. Not only did it eliminate DPA programs, it also instituted a downpayment requirement increase from 3 percent to 3.5 percent. This combination is a recipe for disaster and will further hurt the already crippled housing market.Preserve downpayment assistance programs for families who are credit-worthy, but lack the savings necessary to fulfill their homeownership goals, protect the already fragile economy, improve the current housing market, and save jobs.Currently, roughly 40 percent of the monthly FHA loan origination volume utilizes downpayment assistance to help lower-income Americans meet the previously mandated 3 percent downpayment requirement. It is estimated that 10-25% of potential homebuyers (approximately 50,000 nationwide) will have no way of securing homeownership with DPA programs. With the stroke of the president’s pen, millions of deserving Americans are now left with zero alternatives for attaining homeownership.In order to save downpayment assistance programs, we need to come together NOW to convince Congress to pass H.R. 6694 that allows downpayment assistance to continue indefinitely.On July 31, 2008, a new bill, the FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform and Risk-Based Pricing Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6694) was introduced by several members of Congress. Representatives Maxine Waters, Gary Miller, Al Green and Christopher Shays sponsored the bill that if passed and signed into law will allow downpayment assistance to continue indefinitely.Act Now! Contact your elected officials and urge them to support H.R. 6694 that allows downpayment assistance to endure. Failure to act now will ensure the death of all private downpayment assistance programs!

Source: www.GetDownpayment.com
Reposted by Tracey Anderson
HB Charter Realty Group, LLC
Puyallup, WA
www.PierceCountyHomes.net
Info@PierceCountyHomes.net