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Piece by Piece Update
January 9, 2012
Greetings!
Please take note of the following news and calendar updates:
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Fiscal Cliff Narrowly Averted as Congress and Administration Pass Last-Minute Tax Legislation
 (Courtesy of Enterprise Community Partners/NHC Foreclosure Task Force): On January 1, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8) in a last-minute compromise to avert the fiscal cliff. The legislation contains some provisions that have a direct impact on housing, including:
- Extends the Mortgage Debt Relief Act through 2013, which enables mortgage modifications for troubled home loans without triggering taxes on forgiven debt. This is an essential tool for resolving the mortgage debt overhang that still weighs on the economy and helping struggling homeowners.
- Extends for one year the fixed 9% credit percentage for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. This was previously scheduled to expire in 2013, which meant it was affecting the current pipeline of Housing Credit multifamily properties.
- Extends the New Markets Tax Credit, an important tool for community development that often works closely with housing investments.
- Makes mortgage insurance premiums tax deductible once again, a provision that expired in 2011. Premiums are fully deductible for households with incomes below $100,000, and deductibility declines on a sliding scale for higher incomes.
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Banks Reach Settlement on Mortgages
(Courtesy of New York Times): Federal regulators reached a $8.4 billion settlement to resolve claims of foreclosure abuses that included flawed paperwork used in foreclosures and bungled loan modifications by 10 major lenders, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank. The settlement concludes weeks of negotiations between the federal regulators, led by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the banks, and will end a troubled foreclosure review mandated by the banking regulators. Separately, Bank of America agreed to pay more than $10 billion to Fannie Mae to settle claims over troubled mortgages that soured during the housing crash, mostly loans issued by the bank's Countrywide Financial subsidiary. MORE
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Number of Poor Families Living Outside Atlanta Perimeter Explodes Over Last Two Decades
(Courtesy of AJC): Those living on the margins have gravitated to the margins of Atlanta. A recent AJC analysis showed that the number of poor living outside the Perimeter increased 249 percent in the 20 years between 1990 and 2010. MORE
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AHAND and G-STAND Announce REO Training Program
(Courtesy of GSTAND): With support from Wells Fargo and PNC Bank, AHAND and G-STAND have arranged for the Center for Community
Progress (CCP) to conduct a series of three trainings in Atlanta in the first quarter of 2013 for affordable housing developers and others engaged in the redevelopment of foreclosed properties. With Georgia remaining at or near the top nationally in continuing foreclosure activity, the need for substantial redevelopment and redisposition strategies in the nonprofit sector remains a top priority. Local governments, too, have an interest in mitigating the effects of foreclosures. The full day workshops, $40 each or $75 if registering for all three at one time, will provide information on the best practices for strategies across the full spectrum of single-family redevelopment and redisposition activities. MORE
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CALENDAR ITEMS
Saturday, January 12, 2013
COMMITTED TO COMMUNITIES HOME TOUR Committed to Communities Home Tour will showcase the possibilities of owning a home in the Historic West End neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods. The starting point for this home and community tour is the host home at 580 West End Place, Atlanta, GA 30310, where there will be refreshments and a map guide for the more than 20 homes for sale in the area. To help individuals achieve homeownership in 2013:
- Down payment assistance providers will be available to explain how to obtain funds that can help you with your purchase, including NeighborhoodLIFT ($15,000).
- Loan officers will be on hand to discuss 203k renovation loans for purchasing an affordable fixer-upper, as well as traditional financing for ready-to-go homes.
- Home buyer education providers will explain how to become a fully informed buyer.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU FIELD HEARING
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be holding a field hearing in Atlanta, GA on Thursday, January 17. The hearing will address mortgage policy and feature remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray, as well as testimony from consumer and civil rights groups, industry representatives, and members of the public. To find out the complete details for the event, please RSVP with your full name and your organizational affiliation (if any) to [email protected]. The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and is the first federal agency devoted to consumer protection in the financial marketplace. MORE
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
GREFPAC 9th Annual Education Conference
GREFPAC's 9th Annual Education Conference will be held March 6, 2013 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The agenda is being finalized, and outstanding speakers will address evolving fraud trends, as well as best practices to detect and prevent fraud. CE credits will be available for attorneys, real estate brokers and salespersons, appraisers, and CFEs.
WEBSITE EVENT REGISTRATION
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Sincerely,
Susan Adams
Piece by Piece Coordinator
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