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Piece by Piece Update
November 15, 2012
Greetings!
Please take note of the following news and calendar updates:
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REITs Emerge from the Housing Bust
(Courtesy of Institutional Investor) Capitalizing on depressed housing prices and the demand for rental properties, Colony Capital and other American investment firms are launching real estate investment trusts focused on single-family homes. These REITs could yield healthy returns, but they pose property management challenges.Colony Capital has launched Colony American Homes, a private real estate investment trust that could soon become one of the first public REITs dedicated to single-family homes. Colony has plenty of experience: To date, it's invested $48 billion in some 16,000 properties across the globe. MORE
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Photo Essay on the Foreclosure Crisis
ABC News posted a powerful photo essay on the foreclosure crisis by photojournalist David H. Wells. Wells has documented foreclosed and abandoned homes across the country, in that window in between when residents move out and the time properties are put back on the market. MORE
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CredAbility Releases New Consumer Distress Index
CredAbility has just released its quarterly Consumer Distress Index for third quarter 2012. Nationally, Georgia has the 6th highest level of consumer distress. The index is a measure that tracks shifts in the financial condition of the average American household by measuring five categories: employment, housing, credit, how families manage household budgets and net worth. MORE
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New Study Examines Poverty in Atlanta
(Courtesy of Saporta Report) Breaking the cycle of generational poverty in metro Atlanta will depend on reducing the number of teenage pregnancies and providing early education for children in need, according to new research conducted by The Schapiro Group for the Atlanta Women's Foundation. The findings in the study included that across metro Atlanta, there was a great disparity in high school graduation rates. In the Atlanta Public Schools and Clayton County Public Schools, graduation rates were only 52 percent. That compared with 88 percent in the city of Decatur. The study also found that it was impossible to address poverty without addressing a multitude of other related issues - health, employment, housing and transportation. The county that has the greatest need for services is Clayton County, and yet there is a scarcity of social service organizations working in that area, according to the study. Saporta's Article Full Research Report
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National Foreclosure Task Forces Propose Specific Monitoring of Anti-Blight Provision in Mortgage Settlement
(Courtesy of NHC) Members of National Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Stabilization Task Force submitted a letter on anti-blight activity required by the National Mortgage Settlement to the monitor of the settlement, Joseph A. Smith. A preliminary report from the Monitor reported anti-blight activity under the settlement in a single line, but some additional monitoring and reporting could be helpful to encourage more and better-coordinated anti-blight activity. The task force recommended, in summary, that the monitor:
- Expand quantitative measures of anti-blight activities
- Publish the policies and property standards set for REO properties
- Publish anti-blight and tenant protection policies
- Identify REO properties held
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Home for the Holidays; How You Can Help Veterans in Need!
Home for the Holidays; How You Can Help Veterans in Need!:
Project Community Connections, Inc (PCCI) is working with the Mayor Reed's Unsheltered No More team, the VA, HUD and other local partners to help chronically homeless veterans find safe and decent housing (this includes the placement of veterans with VASH vouchers in rehabbed REO properties). They have a wish-list of items that they are collecting to help veterans establish their households. The resources that are the most difficult to get for a low or no cost are household items such as dishes, glassware, pots and pans, silverware, kitchen utensils, towels, sheets, blankets, comforters, cleaning products, basic cleaning equipment (I.e. broom, toilet brush etc.). If you have items to donate, please contact Nancy Zimmerman at [email protected]. Any assistance you can provide, would be greatly appreciated and put to good use!
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CALENDAR ITEMS
November 20 - Free webinar reviewing LOSING GROUND, the recently released report on combined housing and transportation costs (Atlanta ranks 4th nationally) by the National Housing Conference and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Please join the authors of the report to discuss the growing challenges Americans face as they struggle to keep pace with the combined costs of housing and transportation. A free webinar scheduled for Tuesday, November 20, from 2 to 3 p.m. EST, will explain how housing and transportation costs in the largest 25 metro areas have swelled by 44 percent since 2000 while incomes have failed to keep pace and how to reduce the combined costs for low- and moderate-income households. REGISTER NOW
December 5 - Atlanta Regional Housing Forum. Join us as we learn about the work of the Atlanta Regional Rapid Response team. The Atlanta Regional Rapid Response team was formed to respond to the VA's national challenge for metro areas to house 100 homeless vets in 100 days. The Atlanta team met and exceeded the national challenge by housing 138 veterans in less than 100 days! Atlanta's effort was featured on a national webinar hosted by HUD The team includes representatives from the VA, HUD, DeKalb Housing Authority, Decatur Housing Authority, Atlanta Housing Authority, United Way, Project Community Connections, and the Office Mayor Reed. This regional team is now focused on its goals for 2013 to house 300 more homeless vets with VASH vouchers by December, 2013. MORE REGISTER NOW
December 5 - Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition (GREFPAC). Complimentary Quarterly Educational Meeting. Program: Is This Fraud??? Meet the regulators who can answer your questions. Panel will include representatives from HUD's Atlanta office and the office of the Attorney General for the State of Georgia. They will address a wide-range of topics including: Tax Return Fraud, Employment Fraud, Short Sale Fraud, Purchase Fraud and Reverse Mortgage Fraud. REGISTER NOW
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Sincerely,
Susan Adams
Piece by Piece Coordinator
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