Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan watch as Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was in Denver on Monday, where he said about 20,000 Colorado families in Colorado could benefit from $200 million in the $25 billion settlement reached with the nation’s five biggest banks regarding their practices for processing foreclosures.The big banks settled in the wake of widespread practices such as “robo-signing” of foreclosure paperwork, instead of having lawyers scrutinize the documents. Most of the $200 million is earmarked for interest-rate reductions and principal forgiveness. Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado Attorney John Suthers joined Donovan for the announcement.

Donovan also was in Denver to help launch the Denver Regional Council of Governments’s sustainable grant. He  spoke about bolstering the Rocky Mountain region’s economic  competitiveness and support affordable housing. Nationwide, he said Denver “stood out,” as a leader in linking housing and jobs.

“It was a delight to have Secretary Donovan in Region VIII and to reinforce HUD’s commitment to regional sustainable communities grant funding,” said Rick Garcia, who heads HUD’s Region VIII, which includes Colorado and neighboring states.

“From the earliest days of the Obama Administration, we looked to partner with places across the country that understood the importance of connecting housing to jobs,” Donovan said. “And of all the remarkable work we saw at the local level—from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City—Denver stood out.”

FasTracks, a national model

In fact, he said when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development forged the Partnership for Sustainable Communities with its partners, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, “we saw the work the Denver metro area was doing with FasTracks as a model – for the kind of collaboration, smart planning, and catalytic investment regions need to be successful.” FasTracks, the $6.7 billion light rail and rapid-bus development underway, was the largest transportation initiative in the country when voters approved it in 2004.

Last November, HUD awarded a $4.5 million grant to help DRCOG bring the Metro Vision regional framework to fruition, which Donovan said helps the Denver region plans for “the affordable housing and mixed-use, mixed income communities around these transit corridors that Colorado families need.

“It wasn’t just that this region— home to 57 percent of Colorado’s population and two-thirds of state’s economy—was building more than 100 miles of new light rail, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit lanes, as extraordinary of an accomplishment as that is,” Donovan said. “It was also that you had leaders from the 32 communities surrounding Denver proper working together.  Indeed, with the partnership of DRCOG, each of the diverse communities here understood that countries like China and India don’t see Denver and Arvada – they see a single region, a single economy, a single competitor.”

He said that is exactly the kind of attitude the federal government needs.

“That’s why we’ve awarded $270 million in Sustainable Communities planning grants since President Obama took office – helping communities and regions across the country undertake a new wave of housing, transportation, and land use reform.”

He said the grants “aren’t about telling communities what to do and how to do it – but rather helping them realize their own local visions for success and for creating jobs. Because when it comes to the way communities manage transportation, building and land use, it isn’t just federal barriers that get in the way – but the fact that every community and jurisdiction has a different set of rules and regulations.”

But Donovan said you can’t have a truly sustainable community if everyone doesn’t have access to the opportunities provided by them.

“Across the country, we’ve seen how rising costs in the communities around transit-oriented development too often prevent the families who need it most from being able to afford to live there. Indeed, with the Mile High Connects “equity atlas” Patrick Horvath (the director of the Denver-based Strengthening Neighborhoods Program) and others have created, policymakers in this region have a critical tool to see for themselves exactly how lives are affected—and even shaped—by the design and development of our communities. Indeed, efforts like these show why ensuring every member of this community has access to the jobs, good schools, and affordable housing the $6.7 billion expansion of FasTracks promises isn’t just the right thing to do for families.At a time of scarce public funds, it’s also the smart thing to do for our economy.”

“Making it possible will require the continued engagement of the business community – building on the extraordinary work the Metro Denver Chamber did to get the FasTracks system funded to ensure everyone in this region can benefit from it. It also will require elected leaders here to roll up their sleeves once again and make the tough decisions necessary to get the job done. ”

Have a news tip or real estate story idea? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate.

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Special to InsideRealEstateNews

Rick Garcia

Often it’s difficult to imagine that local, state and federal governments can work together as partners shaping a practical vision for how the future can look.

This week the metropolitan region’s leadership proved working together pays off by 56 local governments coming together to celebrate the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s announcement of a $4.5 million regional sustainable planning grant award to the Denver Regional Council of Governments.  The funding supports a more sustainable and economically competitive Denver metro-region.

As part of nearly $100 million in new grants that HUD is making to communities across the country, these funds will ensure this region and 28 others across the country are connecting housing to jobs, providing transportation options for families, and generating the economic growth needed to win the future.

The awards come at an important moment, as communities continue to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression – a crisis that was decades in the making as families were forced to move further and further away from job centers simply to find a home they could afford.Families were severely impacted, spending 52 cents of every dollar they earn on housing and transportation combined.

Paving the way for the future

Addressing this crisis isn’t just about helping communities today.  We also had to help them plan for the challenges of tomorrow.

That’s why HUD forged a historic Partnership for Sustainable Communities with the U. S. Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency, coordinating our efforts and targeting our resources, to boost economic development and ensure that all Americans can afford to live in communities with access to good jobs, schools and improved transportation options.

Last year, the partnership awarded $170 million to help support communities in planning for strong regional growth – and this week’s announcement brings the total investment around the country the past two years to $270 million

We estimate this year’s grants will create thousands of jobs nationwide and more than hundreds more local jobs in construction, retails, and service industries related to the sustainable efforts in the impacted areas.

Most exciting, we expect the $96 million investment to leverage $115 million in additional funding – getting private capital off the sidelines and into our economy.

That smart government approach is why, for the second year running, we were inundated with applications from every state – from central cities to rural areas and tribal governments.

DRCOG’s proposal brought together the right local partners and a vision for success. Now, the Denver metro-region joins 63 other regional governments throughout the country, as they prepare and build a future that will keep their region economically competitive and ripe for existing business growth and new investments.

Transit Oriented Development

The HUD grant assists DRCOG and its members along the planned construction of six new fixed-rail transit lines.  DRCOG plans for a region with greater access to job opportunities, lower combined transportation and housing costs, reduced consumption of fossil fuels, and ultimately the development of concentrated, mixed-use, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly “urban centers” along transit lines that allow residents to easily access their daily needs. The planning process includes the Mile High Transit Opportunity Collaborative, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, the University of Colorado at Denver, PlaceMatters and FRESC: Good Jobs, Strong Communities to mention a few. The goal is to align investments, programs and policies to generate benefits beyond the transit lines themselves.

The anticipated benefits include focus on three transit corridors—part of the EAGLE P3, ultimate selection of three corridor Catalytic Projects that will generate the most value for sustainable development and then the creation of a pre-development, environmental review and policy model that can benefit all future FasTracks station sites’ sustainability goals.

Despite the 468 applications received this year for HUD sustainability grants—and the bipartisan support for these tools we’ve seen across the country—Congress did not fund another round of grant program in the coming year. However, with 143 sustainable planning grants already awarded to metro-regions representing, 75 percent of the nation’s population, we have a lot of work ahead aligning the three key federal agencies’ public investments with local governments sustainability planning.

DRCOG is the metro-region’s prime transportation and land use planning entity. With this modest grant, HUD’s, DOT’s and EPA’s future investments can yield big results for our economy – help address air quality standards and ensure that work force housing options exist. Frankly, it’s about government that is smart. That’s the approach Colorado is taking – and on behalf of the Obama Administration congratulations to DRCOG for its forward planning that will promote job creation and a sustainable future.

Rick Garcia is the executive director of HUD’s Region VIII, which includes Colorado.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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Rick Garcia

By Rick Garcia

During the early 1980s as many families lost their homes and jobs, state and local governments were forced to dramatically cut the assistance they could offer.

As a result, we saw a dramatic spike in the number of homeless men, women, and families. Today we are emerging from an even more severe recession and once again local governments face hard fiscal times.

And the Obama Administration is building on that progress for Colorado families. That’s why today, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced $18.9 million in funding to help Colorado fight homelessness, part of nearly $1.5 billion to help more than 7,000 homelessness programs across the country.

These grants support a broad range of housing and services—what we call the “continuum of care”—from street outreach to the transitional and permanent homes that Individuals and families need to start rebuilding their lives.

While these funds will help us to speed the progress we’ve made, we already know the tools the Obama Administration is using to prevent and end homelessness are making a difference.

With the Recovery Act’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program—or HPRP—we have saved more than 1.2 million people from living on our nation’s streets – “fundamentally changing” the way communities respond to homelessness, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

With innovative tools like HUD-VASH, which combines HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance with VA’s case management and clinical services, we’ve housed more than 25,000 veterans – including more than 20 times as many veterans in the last two years as we had before President Obama took office.

And with the HEARTH Act President Obama signed into law, going forward Colorado communities will have increased flexibility to determine how best to use HUD funding to respond to homelessness – incorporating the successes and lessons of the last two years into this fight.

Most important of all is that for the first time, these funds aren’t just helping fight homelessness – but are actually part of a larger strategy to prevent and end homelessness.

Last year, the Obama Administration released Opening Doors – the first comprehensive federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness in our history. The culmination of a decade of bipartisan progress, the plan commits our country to ending chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans in five years, while ending homelessness for families, youth, and children within a decade, and setting us on a path to end all homelessness.

And in today’s tight budget environment, that commitment is all the more critical. Indeed, over the last decade, we’ve seen that when localities combine housing with supportive services the results are fewer ambulance and police calls, fewer visits to the emergency room, and—just as importantly—real savings for taxpayers.

With these funds, President Obama’s commitment, and the partnership of local leaders, we can bring this proven model not just to Colorado, but to every community in the country – and put us on a path to ending the tragedy of homelessness once and for all.

Rick Garcia is a HUD Administrator for Region VIII, which includes Colorado.

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Rick Garcia

On Jan. 24, 2011, when the temperature fell as low as 21 degrees in Denver, 15,116 people were found homeless in Colorado.

The Colorado homeless population accounted for 2.4 percent of the 633,017 found homeless in the U.S. on that night, according to a HUD study released today.

Nationally, the number of homeless declined by 2.1 percent, while Colorado did slightly better, with a year-over-year decline of, a 2.3 percent.

These are among the key national and local finding of a new count on homelessness announced today by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. Donovan made the announcement at a meeting of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness where he was joined by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, in Washington, D.C.

Rick M. Garcia, HUD Administrator for Region VIII,  which includes Colorado, commented on the report from Denver.

“HUD’s annual “point in time” estimate of the number of homeless persons and families is based on data reported by more than 3,000 cities and counties,” Garcia said.  “While the number of homeless persons vary from community, these communities are reporting modest declines in homelessness in every category or subpopulation including individuals, families, veterans and those experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness.”

HUD reported that the Denver area had a total of 4,809 homeless in 2011. In other words, the Denver area accounts for 31.8 percent of the state’s total. Of the 4,809, 4,277 were sheltered and 532 were not. And 2,200 of them were individuals, while 2,609 of them were member of families.

In the Colorado Springs area, 1,024 homeless were found, with the remaining 9,283 spread throughout the state, according to HUD.

Despite the large numbers in Colorado and the nation, Donovan, who personally participated in the 2011 night-time count, was pleased the numbers went down.

“It’s remarkable that in the wake of the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression, we’re witnessing an across-the-board drop in homelessness,” Donovan said. “This tells us that the Obama Administration’s homelessness strategy is working and the results spur us to continue working to end homelessness in America once and for all.”

Solis agreed.

“These numbers are a step in the right direction, especially for some of our more vulnerable populations such as veterans,” said Solis, who served as chair of the Interagency Council in 2011. “With many working families continuing to struggle, the President’s plan will allow us to redouble our efforts to end and prevent homelessness.”

On Jan. 24 of last year, local planners or “Continuums of Care” across the nation conducted a one-night count of their sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations.  These one-night ‘snapshot’ counts are then reported to HUD as part of state and local grant applications.  While the data reported to HUD does not directly determine the level of a community’s grant funding, these estimates, as well as full-year counts to be released later next year, are crucial in understanding the scope of homelessness and measuring progress in reducing it.

The Obama Administration’s strategic plan to end homelessness is called Opening Doors – a roadmap by 19 federal member agencies of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors. The plan puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015; and to ending homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020. The plan presents strategies building upon the lesson that mainstream housing, health, education, and human service programs must be fully engaged and coordinated to prevent and end homelessness.

“Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen unprecedented levels of collaboration within the federal government,” said U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Barbara Poppe. “The federal government is partnering more effectively with states and local communities across the nation to align our efforts to make progress on the goals of Opening Doors.”

The reductions reported today are attributed in part to the impact of HUD’s $1.5 billion Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, designed to assist individuals and families confronted by a sudden economic crisis.  Funded through the Recovery Act, HPRP spared more than one million persons from homelessness by offering them short-term rent assistance, security and utility deposits, and moving expenses.  The US Conference of Mayors has described HPRP as “fundamentally changing” the way communities respond to homelessness.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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What is a signing ceremony without politicians and officials holding the obligatory giant check?

Colorado on Tuesday received $4.5 million in a 2011 Sustainable Communities from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The value of today’s funding to the Denver metro-region is to enhance our nine-counties’ ability to compete in a global economy and win the future,” said Rick M. Garcia, the Region VIII director for HUD, which includes Colorado.

Garcia spoke at a ceremony in Olde Town Arvada that also included U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, U.S. Representatives Ed Perlmutter and Dianne DeGette, Gov. John Hickenlooperand a number of regional mayors and county commissioners.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter and HUD Region VIII Director Rick Garcia attended spoke at HUD's ceremony on Tuesday celebrating a $4.5 million transportation grant from HUD.

“This year we are especially proud that we had a particular focus on funding proposals that included more chambers of commerce and economic development corporations as core partners,” Garcia continued. “These grants will be leveraged with local funds more than doubling the investment and, helping to create new visions for how communities and regions plan for housing, transportation, workforce development and the quality of life of their residents for generations to come. When 52 percent of the average working family’s income is devoted to housing and transportation costs alone, we know that we have a responsibility to fix that and to provide housing and transportation options that can improve their quality of life and economic stability.”

Twenty seven communities and organizations will receive Community Challenge grants and 29 regional areas will receive Regional Planning grants. The goal of the Sustainable Communities grants is to help communities and regions improve their economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.

“Our goal is to jointly, quickly, and efficiently connect our workers and families to education and employment opportunities. Regions, such as DRCOG (Denver Regional Council of Governors) embrace such sustainable development—connecting housing to jobs—you have a built-in competitive edge in attracting jobs and private investment,” Garcia said.

Bennet said that this can serve as a model for the country.

“The joint efforts by Colorado’s communities can be an example across the country,” Bennet said. “These resources will help the entire metro region develop comprehensive plans to mitigate traffic, urban sprawl, and pollution while leading to new job opportunities and economic development.”

Perlmutter congratulated DRCOG on what he called “this important grant award which is a testament to the importance of working together to revitalize our communities.  Smart and sustainable growth policies along transit corridors will help promote long-term economic development, jobs and energy efficiency.”

The core partners sharing this award include:

• Mile High Transit Opportunity Collaborative
• Reconnecting America
• Enterprise Community Partners
• Urban Land Conservancy
• Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
• The Piton Foundation
• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory
•  Transit Alliance
• The University of Colorado
•  Denver PlaceMatters
• FRESC: Good Jobs, Strong Communities Regional Transportation District

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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This HUD home in Denver is listed at $73,800. Homes like this can now be purchased for only $100 down.

Take a poll at the bottom of this blog.

It only takes a $100 downpayment for an owner-occupant to buy a HUD foreclosure in the Denver area.

Previously, it required a 3.5 percent downpayment. The $100 downpayment policy kicked off last Friday.

The new rule should boost the sale of homes owned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, local experts said.

“I think it is going to have a huge impact,” said Jason Peck, of Coldwell Banker. He said the $100 downpayment had been previously offered, but HUD took it away about a year ago in the Denver area. The new program is in effect for the next 12 months, according to Denver’s HUD Homeownership Center.

Peck said he suspects one reason the $100 down payment is back is because nationally, HUD is bracing for another 40,000 homes to come on the market. A portion of those homes are distressed properties that were taken over by Bank of America when it purchased Countrywide Mortgage, he said. While he didn’t know how many more HUD homes will be available in the Denver area, one rule of thumb is that the Denver area has about 2 percent of the overall housing market. In that case, it could mean another 800 HUD homes could hit the market locally.

Not only will the new program be good for buyers who are cash-strapped, or don’t want to spend the money, but it also will help HUD liquidate its portfolio quicker, he said.

The program is available to owner-occupants only, not investors. Buyers using this program must get FHA-insured loans and must pay the full asking price for the home.

Peck said he also suspects that HUD felt it was selling too many of its foreclosures to investors, and this will help it return to its core mission of selling to owner-occupants.

“I think this is going to be a win-win for HUD and for buyers,” said Steve Scheer of Denver Realty Partners. “It’s going to help people who are short on cash and it is going to be good for HUD.This is really going to help first-time home buyers. I’ve been in a lot of HUD homes, while they often need some work, a lot of them are pretty nice.”

Katherine Jolliffe, a broker with 8z Real Estate, said most of the HUD foreclosures she sell are priced from about $60,000 to about $240,000.

“I’ve been doing HUD homes forever,” Jolliffe said. “I love selling HUD homes. I do a lot of them. It’s funny, we’ve been hearing for the past couple of years that we are going to see this huge increase in inventory. But our biggest problem right now is the lack of inventory.”

Lender Jocelyn Predovich believes $100 downpayments for HUD homes will open the door for a lot of buyers.

Janet Frederick, of Aspen Real Estate, also sells a lot of HUD homes. She typically is working on 15 to 20 HUD deals each months.  The $100 downpayment already is sparking more interest from buyers, she said.

“I’ve had about 10 phone calls today,” Frederick said. “I suspect this is going to help quite a bit.”

Jocelyn Predovich, president and CEO of Limetree Lending Group, also said that she is seeing interest in the program, and it will only grow as more people become aware of it.

“Already today, I’ve had a number of Realtors call me and send me emails about the program,” she said. “I’ve also had another five or six consumers contact me today. I think people are going to start to look at their data bases and contact people who might have had problems coming up with a 3.5 percent downpayment. I do think it is going to stimulate activity with buyers. Who can’t come up with $100, right?”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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Rick Garcia

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded $12.09 million to Colorado public housing authorities.

The Denver Housing Authority was the single biggest recipient, getting $5.73 million of the funding, which allows agencies to make major large-scale improvements to their public housing units. The Louisville Housing Authority received the smallest amount, $18,392. All told, 44 authorities in Colorado received  funding through HUD’s Capital Fund Program.

“HUD’s Capital Fund Program provides annual funding to all public housing authorities to build, repair, renovate and/or modernize the public housing in their communities,” said HUD Region VIII Administrator Rick Garcia. Region VIII includes Colorado. “The funding is essential and can be used to make vital improvements such as new roofs and energy-efficient upgrades, including geothermal systems and solar panel collectors that result in better utility cost management.”

Donovan said the needs exceed the funding.

“While this funding will certainly help housing authorities address long-standing capital improvements, it only scratches the surface in addressing the deep backlog we’re seeing across the country,” Donovan said.  “Housing authorities (across the country) need nearly $26 billion to keep these homes safe and decent for families, but given our budget realities, we must find other, innovative ways to confront the decline of our public housing stock. That’s why we introduced our new Rental Assistance Demonstration as part of our comprehensive strategy to keep these homes on firm financial footing.”

Sandra B. Henriquez, HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, added, “Unless we transform the way we fund our public housing authorities, local managers will be increasingly forced to choose between repairing roofs, replacing plumbing, or worst of all, demolishing or selling their properties.  We simply can’t afford to let that happen.”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com

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