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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 81 IN THE NEWS HUD Awards Nearly $120M to 4 Communities Four American communities are getting a face-lift. HUD secretary Shaun Donovan announced the department was awarding four cities a combined $119.7 million to redevelop and bring revitalization to blighted areas. e grants were awarded to stakeholder groups in Columbus, Ohio; Norwalk, Connecticut; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each city will receive $30 million with the exception of Columbus, which will receive $29.7 million. e award is the latest extension of the department's "Choice Neighborhoods Initia- tive," which attempts to take a comprehensive approach to struggling neighborhood revi- talization through the renovation of severely distressed public or HUD-assisted housing. e desired result is the creation of a vibrant, mixed-income neighborhood that will beautify cities and reduce crime. "HUD's Choice Neighborhoods Initiative supports local visions for how to transform high-poverty, distressed communities into neighborhoods of opportunity," Donovan said. "By working together with local and state partners, we will show why neighborhoods should always be defined by their potential—not their problems. Together, we will work to ensure that no child's future is determined by their ZIP code and expand opportunity for all." HUD received 44 applications for implementation grants from cities all over the country. As part of the initiative, communi- ties are required to develop a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy. Com- munity leaders and community members are expected to collaborate to put a financially vi- able approach in place. e grants are divided between implementation grants such as the awards announced and planning grants that assist communities in developing successful neighborhood transition plans. Congress approved the funding of the initiative with the passage of HUD's Fiscal Year 2010 budget. Overall, HUD has awarded more than $350 million in Choice Implementation Grants since 2011. e department has requested that Congress appropriate $355 million for implementation grants in 2014. HUD, Real Estate Company Settle Allegations of Discrimination e U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that Brotman Enterprise, LLC, will pay $25,000 as part of an agreement resolving allegations of discrimination. e Philadelphia-area real estate company settled with HUD as part of a Conciliation Agreement. e company was charged with discrimination after employees allegedly steered white testers posing as potential rental applications to neighborhoods they described as safer, while directing black testers to areas agents considered "rough." HUD noted in a release, "e Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in the terms, conditions, or privileges associated with the sale or rental of a dwelling on the basis of race, including steering potential renters or homebuyers to different neighborhoods." "Testing remains one of our most effective tools for exposing unlawful housing discrimination," said Bryan Greene, HUD's acting assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity. "HUD will continue to enforce the Fair Housing Act to ensure that no family has their housing options limited because of their race." HUD began to investigate Brotman Enterprise after the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), a national fair housing organization that receives HUD funds to combat discrimination, filed a complaint with HUD. e complaint alleged that Brotman Enterprises was "unlawfully denying housing opportunities to African- American homeseekers," HUD said. Specifically, the complaint alleged that agents from the company, based in Feasterville-Trevose, northeast of Philadelphia, steered black testers to one of its properties in a high-crime, less desirable neighborhoods. Meanwhile, white testers were told about a different property in an area considered to be safer. Under the terms of the Conciliation Agreement, Brotman Enterprises will pay the NFHA $25,000 in damages, get fair housing training for all of its leasing agents and managers, and establish a non-discrimination rental policy. Pennsylvania RANK: 12 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MAY 2014 2.61% 2.32% 5.6% YEAR AGO 2.71% 3.16% 7.5% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -3.8% -26.6% -1.9% Top County MONROE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 5.12% 9.50% YEAR AGO 5.63% 12.55% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -9.1% -24.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area EAST STROUDSBURG, PA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MAY 2014 5.12% 9.50% YEAR AGO 5.63% 12.55% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -9.1% -24.4% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the May 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary May 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. modification and the loss of a home. It's hard to imagine a better investment in communities and families still feeling the effects of the housing crisis," Schneiderman said. "We know that our Homeowner Protection Program has had real results, helping thousands of families keep their homes. I'm pleased to announce that the Mortgage Assistance Program will go even further, providing a lifeline to families still in need." e program is a response to what the attorney general's office describes as an increasing difficulty for homeowners, even homeowners who have a reliable source of income, to receive a mortgage modification because of smaller outstanding debts. e loans are designed to allow households to pay off debts that may be standing in the way of securing a mortgage modification. Eligible loan uses will include paying off liabilities including mortgage payments or unpaid interests and fees; paying down second or third mortgages; satisfying property tax liens or other liens that might lead to loss of homeownership; and supplying borrowers with a "matching" fund to achieve principal reduction or other beneficial first lien modification terms.

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