(RECAP: More than three-quarters of the delinquent mortgages Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have sold since 2014 are still delinquent today, according to a new report. Fannie and Freddie have sold delinquent mortgages in bulk since 2014. The mortgages are sold to investors at steep discounts to their face value in an attempt to help distressed homeowners find better outcomes than the government can provide and shield taxpayers from more losses caused by defaults. The government has drawn criticism for the mortgage sales. Many consumer advocates say the investors who buy them have no experience helping distressed homeowners and no sense of responsibility to the communities where the homes are located. But few nonprofits are able to handle the financing or servicing of so many mortgages.)

Powered by WPeMatico

(RECAP: The Alexandria City Council told the city’s public housing agency Tuesday to go ahead and replace the run-down Ramsey Homes apartment complex with a new 52-unit mixed-income building, without attempting to preserve any remnants of the segregated federal housing. The unanimous vote reversed previous direction that the council members gave in February, and threw yet another twist into the long-running saga of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s effort to raze four low-rise apartment houses. The Ramsey Homes redevelopment project is expected to cost about $17.5 million, said ARHA chief executive Roy Priest, nearly entirely paid for with federal money.)

Powered by WPeMatico

(RECAP: Gov. Terry McAuliffe is pitching in $2.5 million to help Richmond in transforming the impoverished Creighton Court area of the East End into a model, mixed-income community. The governor went to the East End on Wednesday to announce Richmond as a winner of a Vibrant Community Initiative grant. The grant will support development of a $45 million subdivision on the 20-acre site where the former Armstrong High School now stands. The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is taking the lead on the project, with major financial support from City Hall, which has made this project a signature effort to de-concentrate poverty and stimulate growth in a depressed part of Richmond. Work is expected to start in October with the demolition of the ancient Armstrong building, followed by site work and then construction on the first of the plotted 256 new residences, 220 apartments and 36 single-family homes.)

Powered by WPeMatico