WASHINGTON – In response to the Bush Administration’s plan to help families avoid foreclosure, tens of thousands of homeowners are refinancing their exotic subprime loans with HUD’s new government-backed mortgage product. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson today announced that more than 33,000 borrowers have already refinanced their subprime home loans with FHASecure, a government-insured foreclosure avoidance initiative created in September. An additional 20,000 are in the pipeline for approval this month, bringing the total to more than 53,000 in a four month period.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it has charged Neysa C. Crim of Decatur, Alabama, with violating the federal Fair Housing Act for refusing to rent her home to an African-American man, making unlawful and discriminatory statements and falsely representing that a house was unavailable to rent.

WASHINGTON – Nearly 30,000 residents affected by the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes will continue to receive housing assistance when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assumes control of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) rental program on December 1, 2007. HUD continues to work with its local public housing agencies (PHA) to reach out to those families who are eligible for this critical housing program to ensure their rent payments continue, and to offer them services to help them get back on the road to self-sufficiency.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and two Florida regulators today announced a legal settlement with First American Title Insurance Company for alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and similar state laws. HUD, the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) claim First American made payments to scores of affiliated partnerships based on the referral of business to the title company.

DETROIT – More Michigan families can obtain financial relief from their exotic subprime home loans, thanks to a new government-backed refinancing resource offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson highlighted the new FHASecure product and other reliable homebuying incentives at a HUD-sponsored foreclosure prevention workshop for homeowners who want to stay in their homes and prospective borrowers who want to make an educated choice when they buy.

WASHINGTON – For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is reporting a nearly 12 percent decrease in the number of chronically homeless persons living on the nation’s streets. HUD’s analysis found that more than 20,000 persons moved from the streets into transitional and permanent supportive housing between 2005 and 2006.

NEW ORLEANS –Thanksgiving came early for three Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) families today when they were welcomed to their new townhomes at the newly constructed Guste Homes and were presented with gift baskets stuffed with a turkey and all the trimmings.

WASHINGTON – Historic preservationists and affordable housing advocates are often at odds when it comes to developing strategies to preserve older housing while providing affordable housing opportunities for working families. In fact, there is a prevailing myth that the cost of historic preservation actually prices many working families out of many urban neighborhoods.