Laura Williams's Page

Yesterday the Center for American Progress hosted a forum to discuss the possibility of turning large numbers of REO properties into scattered site rentals. It has a certain win-win elegance to it -- banks get the properties off their books while the increased demand for (ahem, affordable) rental housing is met. Not to mention the fact that…See More

The national flood insurance program is set to expire at the end of this month (which featured heavy flooding in my neck of the woods -- how about yours?). Despite the obvious relevance, there's been little coverage of what will be some significant changes to the current program.  So far, the bill has passed the House and the relevant Senate committee. After debate and (hopefully) passage in the Senate, and discrepancies between the House and Senate versions of the bill will be reconciled and…See More

"NOAA is launching a comprehensive initiative to build a “Weather-ready” nation to make America safer by saving more lives and protecting livelihoods as communities across the country become increasingly vulnerable to severe weather events, such as tornado outbreaks, intense heat waves, flooding, active hurricane seasons, and solar storms that threaten…See More

A new report from The Leadership Conference Education Fund argues that equitable transportation is a civil rights issue. Some interesting numbers from the report: $9,498: average annual cost of owning a car.33 percent: portion of low-income African Americans without access to automobiles.25 percent: portion of low-income Latinos without automobile access.12.1 percent: portion of low-income Whites without automobile access.80 percent: portion of federal transportation funding dedicated to…See More

From their website: Business correspondent Paul Solman reports from Cleveland on the economically troubled Ohio city's efforts to tear down thousands of empty foreclosed homes in hopes of putting eyesore and dangerous properties back to productive use -- perhaps as community gardens, new businesses or even a vineyard.http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec11/makingsense_07-05.htmlSee More

As I'm sure most everyone is aware by now, funding for the HUD housing counseling program was zeroed out in the FY2011 budget. Below is a list of frequently asked questions about the program going forward that I hope will be useful. Additionally, if you have any reports or studies that have been able to quantify the benefit of housing counseling, I'm working to collect these for an informal literature review. Please share any and all below.   See More

Since participating in some of the Bring Workers Home forums held by NHC and the National Association of Realtors over the past few months, I've been thinking about why more employers don't participate in workforce housing programs. The math, generally, seems to work out in their favor, and the loyalty and stability it brings to their workforce is not something to ignore. So why don't more employers participate? Is this…See More

I am trying to gather information on foreclosure prevention and neighborhood stabilization policies that have had positive, measurable results. We'd like to highlight these in a new feature on Foreclosure-Response.org. If you have or know of such a program, I'd love to speak with you -- you can email me at lwilliams@nhc.org or leave a response here. THANKS![cross-listed in Neighborhood Stabilization]See More

I am trying to gather information on foreclosure prevention and neighborhood stabilization policies that have had positive, measurable results. We'd like to highlight these in a new feature on Foreclosure-Response.org. If you have or know of such a program, I'd love to speak with you -- you can email me at lwilliams@nhc.org or leave a response here. THANKS![cross-listed in Foreclosure Prevention]See More

Have the recently uncovered problems with the documentation of many (many!) foreclosures had impacts on local stabilization and recovery programs? If so, what hurdles are you facing and how to you foresee getting over them? 

I wanted to share this paper that was brought to my attention on the foreclosure prevention programs funded by the TARP Hardest Hit Housing Fund.The abstract (from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1695217):  This paper seeks to identify the how the seven Round 1 and Round 2 Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) states with predominantly nonjudicial foreclosure systems formulated their HHF strategies in response to the…See More

Virginia has put together a fairly comprehensive foreclosure response kit for residents including answers to frequently asked questions and other resources. It's worth checking out, whether you live in Virginia or are looking to put something together in your own state. Has anyone used the VA site when working with homeowners? Do other states have similar portals that they'd like to share?(The full web address is: …See More

Virginia has put together a fairly comprehensive foreclosure response kit for residents including answers to frequently asked questions and other resources. It's worth checking out, whether you live in Virginia or are looking to put something together in your own state. Has anyone used the VA site when working with homeowners? Do other states have similar portals that they'd like to share?(The full web address is: …See More