(RECAP: Bozzuto Development and Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins will present a revised proposal for St. Johns Wood Apartments at a community meeting on Wednesday, May 4. The St. Johns Wood plot has been through a couple of changes since first plans were shown to community members more than a year ago. The 14.3-acre development currently consists of nine three-tale, garden-style apartment buildings containing a total of 250 multi-family residential units. Twelve percent of the units will be set aside for affordable housing, as required by law. The developers expect the plotting phase will take about two years and construction another two years.)

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(RECAP: Amid a moribund economy and reduced levels of consumer spending, the Fed on Wednesday again opted not to raise interest rates. “Economic activity appears to have slowed,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement released after its two-day meeting this week. “Growth in household spending has moderated, although households’ real income has risen at a solid rate and consumer sentiment remains high.” Prominently missing from the statement was a “balance of risks” assessment, a mainstay of Fed communiques in which the Fed described how conditions were shaping up compared to its expectations. Fed watchers have taken the absence of the language from the past two statements as indications that FOMC officials remain concerned about growth both domestically and internationally.)

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Servicer Issues
(RECAP: Mortgage servicing remains a sore spot for consumers, especially those having problems paying their loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released its latest monthly consumer complaint snapshot, putting a spotlight on mortgage complaints. Since CFPB launched its Consumer Complaint Database in June 2012, it has handled over 850,000 complaints across all financial products. As of April 1, 223,100 of those complaints were mortgage related. The Bureau has grouped mortgage complaints into three categories – problems when consumers are unable to pay; confusion over loan transfers, and communication issues involving servicers. “Today’s report shows that consumers are still running into too many dead ends and obstacles in resolving issues with their mortgage servicer,” said CFPB Director Cordray. “The Bureau will continue to press to make sure that people can get the right information and the timely help they need.”)

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