Northwest HUD Lines
November 2016

HUD e-Briefs from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon & Washington

Leland Jones, Editor, 206/220-5356 or Leland.jones@hud.gov

www.hud.gov/alaska	www.hud.gov/idaho
www.hud.gov/oregon	www.hud.gov/washington
http://twitter.com/hudnorthwest

JUST A THOUGHT
"As I learned when I was Mayor in San Antonio, Texas, and as I've seen time and again as America's Housing and Urban Development Secretary, you can't manage what you don't measure." -- HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Habitat III - UN Conference on Housing & Sustainable Urban Development, October 16, 2016, Quito, Ecuador

DATA DIVING DELIVERS
How much energy we use tells us how much energy we can save
Consistent with President Obama's Climate Action Plan, HUD has proposed to the Office of Management & Budget that it be allowed to collect ^ benchmark water & energy usage information from the owners of HUD-assisted & -insured multifamily housing and from housing authorities owning and operating public housing that will serve as benchmarks that, HUD believes, will lead to investments that investments that: improve resident comfort, reduce tenant turnover, stabilize operating costs, reduce taxpayer burden, preserve affordable housing, ensure disaster resilience; and mitigate climate change. HUD expects to collect data from some 2.2 million units nationwide including units receive project-based rental assistance, that are in FHA-insured properties and that are owned by public housing authorities with more than 250 public housing units. HUD's proposal to OMB also includes allowing participants to enter their usage data into EPA's free, web-based ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® "Before property owners and managers can achieve measureable savings in the operating costs of their buildings, they need to understand just how much water and energy consumption is costing them," said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. "Today we propose a common sense practice that will lead to savings for building owners, housing authorities and taxpayers alike." Public comments on HUD's benchmarking proposals are due no later than December 5th.

WHAT WORKS
Study shows subsidies = stability
What's the surest, soundest way to make sure homeless families seeking shelter don't fall back into homelessness? Long-term, subsidized housing. And it's not just a guess or a hunch, but the finding of a three-year study of more than 2,200 families in 12 American cities released in October by HUD.The Family Options Study found Families offered a long-term subsidy experienced significantly less homelessness and housing instability than families offered any of the other shorter-term interventions like rapid re-housing or project-based transitional housing.Better still, families receive long-term subsidies, HUD found, "demonstrate significantly improved non-housing outcomes" in measures such as "adult well-being (reductions in psychological distress, intimate partner violence), child well-being (reductions in school mobility, behavior problems and sleep problems, and more pro-social behavior), as well as increased food security and decreased economic stress." While HUD continues, said HUD Assistant Secretary Kathy O'Regan, "to seek more housing subsidies to help families experiencing homelessness, we must also recognize that rapid rehousing is proving to be the most cost-effective tool that we have available within the crisis response system."

IN EFFECT
Protecting the victims
A rule proposed by HUD to insure, as HUD Secretary Julián Castro has noted, that "nobody should have to choose between an unsafe home and no home at all" has become final, effectiveConsistent with the Violence Against Women Act signed into law by President Obama in 2013, the final rule codifies "core protections" across HUD housing programs to insure that "survivors are not denied assistance as an applicant, or evicted or have assistance terminated due to having been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, or for being affiliated with a victim." In addition, it removes barriers to a victim's self-certification of the need to seek protections under the Act, facilitates self-certification it streamlines procedures and protocols that provide for "emergency transfers which allows for survivors to move to another safe and available unit if they fear for their life and safety," and protects the victim against denial of occupancy or tenancy "based solely on these adverse factors that are a direct result of being a survivor." Last month, HUD also issued new guidance to assist local governments in the development and implementation of nuisance and crime-free ordinances to make certain they don't violate victims' rights under the Fair Housing Act.

GOT VIEWS?
Protecting human lives & HUD assets
With flood events expected in the future to, no pun intended, be on the rise, for the first time in nearly 40 years HUD is proposing a rule to establish "resiliency standards" to increase the required elevation of new or substantially-improved HUD-supported (including FHA-insure properties) above the base flood elevation - aka, the 100 flood-plain. Properties considered 'critical,' such as hospitals, nursing homes, and police/fire facilities, would be elevated to three feet above the base flood elevation or the 500-year floodplain, whichever is greater. In addition to higher elevations, Department is also proposing to enlarge the commensurate horizontal floodplain area around the site for certain types of federally supported properties. "Our nation is faced with mounting and compelling evidence that future flooding events will be increasingly costly and frequent," said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. Today we begin the process of aligning our regulations with the evidence to make sure taxpayer dollars are invested in the most responsible and resilient manner possible." Public comments are due December 27, 2016.

NEWS TO USE
Protecting the rural rental stock
Anticipating that a "substantial number of multi-family housing properties in the" USDA "portfolio will exit the program through 2030," USDA Rural Development has announced that in March, 2017 it will launch a pilot program to promote the participation of non-profit organizations in transactions to preserve those properties as part of USDA's Section 515 rental housing loan program inventory. According to a memo from Administrator Tony Hernandez of Rural Development's Housing & Community Facilities Programs, the pilot will test limited changes in the areas of return-on-investment, loan-to-value, developer loans grants and hard cost contingency for their effectiveness in increasing non-profit participation & preserving the stock.

! ! ! NEWS FLASH ! ! !
Effective immediately, says FHA in Mortgagee Letter 2016-15, it may okay reduction in certain circumstances the owner-occupied unit requirement from 50 percent to as low as 35 percent on HUD-approved condominium complexes.

! ! ! FLASH TWO ! ! !
The Federal Register has posted a notice extending the deadline submission of an of Assessment of Fair Housing for Consolidated Plan participants that receive a Community Development Block Grant of $500,000 or less.

BRIEF BRIEFS
Despite stiff opposition, reports Idaho Statesman, Boise, Idaho City Council okays Boise/Ada County housing authority proposal to build 50-unit Sandhill Crane Apartments in city's west end, its first new affordable housing for families in 15 years. . .As Interior Secretary Jewell says Obama Administration "has exceeded its goal of placing half a million acres of tribal homelands into trust for federally recognized tribes", Craig Tribal Association considers, reports Alaska Public Radio, becoming first Alaska tribe to place some of its "property in trust with the Federal government". . .Sun Valley, Idaho considering plan, says Idaho Mountain Express, to sell two city-owned condominiums to fund down - payment assistance program for city employees. . .Cities of Eugene & Springfield award St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, says KLCC-FM, to purchase & rehab former church to house 14 homeless youth & make sure they finish high school. . .Native Nations Institute & Harvard Project on Native American Economic Development report that Idaho, Oregon & Washington among 19 states with improved credit scorers on Indian reservations from 2002 to 2012 says Indian County Today. . .Washington Department of Financial Institutions seeks fines totaling $700,000 against five firms for "false, deceptive & misleading mortgage advertising". . .Cascade West Council of Governments in Albany, Oregon & Economic Development Council of Tillamook County win more than $500,000 in USDA loans & grants to launch microenterprise micro-loan programs. . .Cook Inlet Housing celebrates grand opening of 49-unit Creekview Plaza housing for the elderly in east Anchorage, Alaska, reports The Dispatch, marking "the first time alternative-energy ground-source heat-pump technology has been used on a large scale in an Anchorage building". .St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County "hopes" to buy land from Springfield Church of the Brethren to build 35 units of affordable housing says Register Guard. . .2016 is a big AND busy year for Catholic Charities in Spokane, says Spokesman Review, as it plans to complete or start building seven affordable housing projects. . .Klamath Housing Authority tells KOBI-TV that 10-unit Victory Commons veteran housing will celebrate grand opening in early November. . .Alaska Legal Services & Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, reports Tundra Drums, enter into 3-year partnership to assign attorneys to provide legal assistance on "domestic violence, housing, income maintenance, and disability/aging-related problems" of persons seeking health care at ANTHC clinics in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Kenai & Nome. . .Network for Oregon Affordable Housing launches new Web site. . .Providence Health & Services negotiating to open "social services" hub across from transit center & a block from Billy Frank, Jr. housing complex under development in downtown Olympia, Washington, says The Olympian, "to bring several agencies together at one location to work to reduce the number of mentally ill people who end up in homeless shelters, jails or emergency rooms". . .Capital City Development Corporation seeks RFQ/RFP for development of new workforce housing in River Street area of downtown Boise, Idaho.

CONGRATS. . .
. . .To Doug Carlson, the newly-named Field Office Director for HUD in Oregon. Born in Coeur d'Alene and a graduate of Boise State University, Doug joined HUD in 1990 and, in 1998, was named Director of Community Planning & Development with oversight responsibility for the Community Development Block Grant, Continuum of Care, HOME Investment Partnership, HOPWA & American Recovery & Reinvestment Act & a host of other HUD-funded programs which generate more than $100 million annually in critical Federal housing, community & economic development assistance to scores of local governments & non-profit housing providers across the two states. He also has earned a master of public administration degree from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and currently is a Senior Fellow Partnership for Public Service's Excellence in Government Program. He and his wife and two high schoolers live in Portland. Doug succeeds Margaret Salazar who has accepted a position with the Oregon Department of Housing & Community Services.

CONGRATS TOO
Honoring our friends
Congratulations too to the 2017 Friends of Housing Awards presented at the annual Housing Washington conference hosted by the Washington Housing Finance Commission & the Department of Commerce and attended by some 900 people - a record turn-out - in Tacoma - Chris Lowell of the Housing Authority of Thurston County, Marilee Roloff of Spokane, most recently Volunteers of America Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho, Stephen Norman of the, King County Housing Authority, Betsy Hunter of, Plymouth Housing Group, Joanne Quinn, most recently with the Seattle Office of Housing & Robert Rozen, Ernst & Young with a special mention for Michael Mirra of the Tacoma Housing Authority and this year's winner of the Margaret M. Sevy Affordable Housing Lifetime Achievement Award. As Commission chair Karen Miller observed, "These inspiring leaders have improved the lives of thousands of Washington residents through affordable housing, while raising the bar for all of us in the industry."

POINT
One view of what we do
"It's like, oh you want a swimming pool? We'll get you a swimming pool. You want senior housing? OK, we'll get you senior housing. It's just one thing after the next, it's like saying yes to a child who doesn't know how to stop himself from requesting because there are no boundaries set." - A resident of Skagway, Alaska, expressing opposition to recently-passed $6 million bond issue to build senior center & housing.-- October 11, 2016,
KHNS-FM.

COUNTERPOINT
Another view of what we do
"[Homelessness] is a problem we're trying to help find a solution to, and the solution to this problem isn't going to come in the form of filling the jail up with people who have committed minor offenses." - - Police Sergeant Jason Viada, October 25th, Peninsula Daily News, talking about a recently-formed partnership between Serenity House of Clallam County, Washington & the Port Angeles Police Department to visit, together, "about twice a week" to visit, together, "places where people are known to camp to ensure they are aware of the services available to them.

FACT-SINATING
Too much or too little that is the question
A debate's raging in Eugene, Oregon. Some say the city doesn't have enough affordable, multifamily housing. Others say it's got way too much - and even more's on the way. Chances are both sides are sorta right & both sides are sorta wrong. You decide.

A REMINDER
Homelessness isn't just a big-city issue
Think "affordable housing crisis" & big cities like Anchorage & Boise, Portland & Seattle probably come to mind. Well, you may want to add Kittitas County, Washington - with a population of 43,269 and, according to the Census, a median rent of $920 a month - to the list. In August, reports The Daily Record, the county's Homelessness & Affordable Housing Committee sent a survey to every registered voter in the county as part of its work developing a 10-year comprehensive plan. It received 2,176 responses, 55.3 percent of who agreed or strongly agreed that "homelessness is a problem locally" & 73.3 percent of whom agreed or strongly agreed that "affordable housing is a problem" in the county. 53.3 percent "disagreed or disagreed strongly" with the idea that the county was "doing enough" for affordable housing. Yet more validation, it would seem, of the 2015 Washington State Housing Needs Assessment's observation that "there are housing affordability problems in every county in Washington."

STEEL WORKS
How steel can help end homelessness
"For the past six months, I have been volunteering with Compass Housing Alliance in an effort to identify, design and price a better alternative. Working with OneBuild, a Seattle-based modular-housing supplier, we have designed a number of housing configurations using manufactured steel modules. These modular housing units are fully compliant with Seattle building and energy codes, contain bathrooms and minimal cooking facilities and are configurable in a variety of manners, from dorm style to two- and three-bedroom apartments. They can be accompanied by services and communal spaces complementary to the intended population. Best of all, these are attractive, permanent housing units that can be moved or reconfigured as needs and demands change. The flexibility and efficiency of these units can provide a dignified and supportive housing-first solution to homelessness. . .Addressing homelessness in a timely and efficient manner is not beyond our ability or means as a community. But we will need the cooperation and collaboration of our public, private, nonprofit, faith-based and philanthropic communities, as well as individuals with the personal resources to achieve our goals. As a community, we've talked long enough about addressing homelessness and have only seen the problem worsen. It's time for bold and decisive action by public and private leadership. It's time for something new." - Al Levine, former deputy executive director, Seattle Housing Authority, October 3, 2016, The Seattle Times.

BRIEF BRIEFS TOO
Congratulations to Vivian Johnson Korthuis for her selection as president of the Association of Village Council Presidents who, reports The Alaska Dispatch, becomes first woman to head the organization of 56 tribes in 48 villages throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska. . .With almost 40 communities already visited since 2000, says Coeur d'Alene Press, Idaho Rural Partnership - a collaboration of Association of Idaho Cities, Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho Transportation Department, HUD, USDA Idaho Housing and Finance Association, Region IV Development Association and the University of Idaho - takes its most recent community review on the road to Athol, Idaho. . .U.S. Department of Justice files suit against Ellensburg, Washington housing complex alleging it "was designed and constructed without complying with the Fair Housing Act's accessibility requirements". . .Valley Transit in Boise & Lane County Transit in Eugene & Metro in Portland among 16 winners nationwide of Federal Transit Administration transit-oriented development planning grants. . .Telling Tri-City Herald "there's no other center like this in the Northwest," Benton-Franklin Community Action Connections celebrates opening of Second Chance day center in Pasco, Washington for "families with children who need daytime shelter while they look for work, housing & other resources". . .Recount finds $6 million bond issue to build new senior center & 7 affordable housing units for the elderly in Skagway, Alaska passes, reports KHNS-FM, 228 to 223. . .Lummi Indian Business Council near Bellingham, Washington & Lands Council of Washington in Spokane awarded EPA Urban Waters grants to "provide watershed science education and environmental job training". . .Africatown, Black Community Impact Alliance, Centerstone, and Capitol Hill Housing form partnership, reports The Stranger, to promote "equitable development plans in the Central District" of Seattle, Washington with initial focus on redevelopment of lot that once was site of Liberty Bank, "the first black-owned bank in the Pacific Northwest.". . .On 1.5 acre site in northeast Portland, Oregon Cascadia Behavioral Health breaks ground for a new Garlington Health & Wellness Center that will include 52 units of affordable housing for Cascadia clients, Veterans and displaced N/NE Portland residents". . .HUDUser visits Brender Creek housing for seasonal farmworkers developed by Office of Rural Farmworker Housing & Washington Growers League in Cashmere, Washington and likes what it sees. . .Gerald Hauser of Idaho Housing & Finance, partners & Mayor Martin Smedley of Burley, Idaho celebrate grand opening, says KTVB-TV, of "virtually filled" 30 affordable units of single-family & 3 duplexes across the street from Snake River. . .Providing more than 1 million hours of after-school activities a year, Boys & Girls Club opens new 27,000 square-foot "club house" in downtown Bellevue, Washington replacing a facility, says The Bellevue Reporter, that first opened in 1952. . .Square One Village & City of Eugene, Association of Washington Cities honors State Senators Karen Fraser & Annette Cleveland & Representatives Sherry Appleton, Joan McBride, Tara Senn & Mia Gregerson with 2016 City Champion Awards. . .Oregon break ground for Emerald Village Eugene, says Register Guard, 22 tiny houses that "likely will be next spring" & serve as model for "other cities around the country". . .After five years as its director, Blaine County, Idaho Housing Authority's David Petrie "steps down" to pursue private sector opportunities, says Idaho Mountain Express. . .Happy birthday to NeighborWorks Umpqua in Roseburg, Oregon, 25 years of great work, great partnering.

NOFA-TUNITY
EPA funding for brownfields assessment & clean-up
EPA has set December 20th deadlines to apply for both Brownfields Assessment Grants & for Brownfields Clean-Up Grants. It expects to award up to 234 assessment grants under which community-wide applicants may seek up to $200,000 each for hazardous substances & petroleum funding, but are limited to a $300,000 total limit if requesting funds for both and assessment coalitions can apply for up $600,000. EPA also expects to award up to 294 clean-up grants with applicants limited to $200,000 per brownfield site & no more than three sites. For frequently-asked questions about the competitions, VISIT or view EPA's scheduled November 1st Webcast. 

NOFA-TWO-NITY
USDA providing TA for downtown revitalization
EPA has set a November 6th deadline for rural communities to express their interest in receiving free, Rural Advantage technical assistance to help grow their economies & revitalize their downtowns. A suite of economic development planning tools - Cool & Connected, Healthy Places for Healthy People & Local Foods, Local Places - Rural Advantage has assisted 83 communities since its inception. Selected communities work -supported team of experts, including through a two-day workshop, to develop strategies and action plans that enable them to realize their local revitalization goals. The team will include people with expertise in community development, and representatives of the federal agencies that sponsor the three programs so communities can build connections and take better advantage of federal programs and resources. Rural Advantage focuses particularly on helping communities, says EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, to "use their unique local assets" to leverage local food enterprise to diversify their economy and renew their downtowns, use broadband service to create walkable, connected, economically successful neighborhoods & partner with health care facilities to catalyze downtown revitalization and to improve options for healthy living and economic opportunity.

NOFA-THREE-NITY
Down-payment dollars for up to 100 percent of AMI
NeighborWorks America has set a November 15th deadline for eligible community development financial institutions to apply for Project Reinvest: Homeownership grants to provide deferred down payment assistance loans to borrowers at 100 percent of Area Median Income or less in urban, suburban and rural communities. Eligible organizations must be able to demonstrate the ability to originate a high volume of down payment assistance loans in conjunction with a first mortgage product over a two-year program period from January 2017 through January 2019. Project Reinvest was made possible by the $122 million NeighborWorks received as a result of a Department of Justice settlement with Bank of America. The funds must be used for "providing housing counseling, neighborhood stabilization, foreclosure prevention or similar programs."

NO-FOUR-TUNITY
Harvard to provide TA on "pay for success"
The Government Performance Lab at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government has set November 7, 2016, & March 15, 2016 as the deadlines for governments to apply for "pro bono technical assistance to undertake pay for success and performance improvement projects." Up to nine local governments are expected to receive assistance. For projects using social impact bonds, assistance can be used for either feasibility analysis or transaction structuring. For performance improvement work, the Lab is seeking governments interested in improving the results they achieve with their core human services spending. In particular, the Lab recently been using a new model in which we supply jurisdictions with as many as six Lab fellows who help governments improve outcomes in multiple human service agencies simultaneously.

BRIEF BRIEFS THREE
El Centro de la Raza wins $120,000 EPA environmental justice collaboration grant to "reduce air & noise pollution in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood. . .Community Visions Inc. breaks ground for 25,000 square-foot Seven Corners Community Collaborative, Portland, Oregon's "first universally-designed public building". . .Better late than never, congrats to BRIDGE Housing on the grand opening of the 155-unit Abigail, its first affordable housing development in Portland, Oregon. . Pacific Continental Bank of Vancouver, Washington wins a 2016 Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines Strong Communities Award. . .USDA Rural Development awards $675,000 in Rural Community Development Initiative funds to Clearwater Economic Development Association in Idaho & HopeSource, the Northwest Cooperative Development Center & the Northwest Agriculture Business Center in Washington to "grow" jobs & economic opportunities in rural communities. . .Converting its Bellingham, Washington day shelter to emergency housing, The Herald reports, Lighthouse Mission to provide 80 more shelter beds to homeless men. . .Yakama Power receives $30.7 million USDA Rural Utilities loan to build or improve 574 miles of electrical lines on Yakama Reservation in Washington State. . .4SquareOne breaks ground for Emerald Village Eugene, 22 "tiny houses" of 160 to 290 square feet so that, executive director Dan Bryant tells KLCC-FM, " the individuals who live here can afford to pay their own way without any other public subsidy". . .Bremerton, Washington to allocate CDBG funds to tear-down two dilapidated houses so site can be used for affordable apartments, says Kitsap Sun. . .Describing it as "not only affordable living, but healthy living," Cook Inlet Housing's Carol Gore welcomes guests to grand opening of 50-unit, solar-powered Grass Creek North I complex in the Muldoon neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska. . .Governor Jay Inslee announces that Scott Janvis is retiring as director of Washington's Department of Financial Institutions after almost 40 years in public service. . .Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity files plans for "self-help" development of 12 units in six duplexes in Springfield, says Register Guard, "the largest house-building project in the organization's 26-year history". . .Benton County & City of Corvallis, Oregon agree to go 50-50 to pay for "administrator to lead efforts to reduce homelessness," says Gazette Times. . .Housing Authority of Snohomish County names Duane Leonard, a 22-year veteran of the authority, to succeed Bob Davis as its executive director. . .Caldwell, Idaho moving forward with transformation of former Carnegie Library into center for veterans says Idaho Press Tribune. . .With funding from City of Seattle & Washington State Housing Finance Commission, GMD Development gets go-ahead to construct Linden Flats, 170 units of "100%" affordable units at or below 60 percent of AMI in Seattle, Washington. . .Northwest Housing Alternatives & local officials break ground for "one-of-a-kind" Pomeroy Place, break ground for Pomeroy Place, 20 units of affordable housing for veterans & their families in Hillsboro says Hillsboro Tribune. . .Women & Children's' Alliance in Boise, Idaho, reports Boise State Public Radio, receive Verizon grant to promote financial literacy among women. . .Sharon Lee of Low Income Housing Institute talks about what got her involved in affordable housing in Affordable Housing Finance "pop quiz". . .Thanks to inclusionary joining legislation passed by Oregon Legislature this year, Portland, Oregon Commissioner Dan Salesman will bring proposal requiring at least 2O percent of any new complex of 20 or more units will be affordable before full Commission for approval in December. . .Salem Housing Authority reaches conditional sales agreement with State to purchase Yaquina Hall on ground of old Oregon State Hospital for conversion to 50 units of affordable housing, reports East Oregonian

QUOTEWORTHY
The epidemic these times
"We don't want to discharge someone from the hospital to the street; I don't want to send somebody out of my clinic to go into the woods. We've got these sort of treatment and crisis facilities, but the missing piece is that next piece - that supportive housing piece. We can't treat mental health, substance abuse, diabetes, heart disease - we can't treat those things adequately if people don't have housing. Find someone stable shelter, and then we can address all of that other stuff in an efficient way that's more cost effective." - City Council Member & Dr. Nathan Boddie, "Housing First: A Solution to Central Oregon's Homeless Problem?" October 20, 2016, The Bend Bulletin.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We all are aware that the mortgage market has undergone dramatic change in the past decade. It has traveled a long and winding road from the irresponsible spree that sabotaged the world's largest economy through a highly restrictive market that excluded many creditworthy applicants from qualifying for reasonable and responsible loans. Under our new rules, what is now emerging is a mortgage market in a steady recovery. Home values are on the rise in many areas, and millions of homes are resurfacing from their previously underwater status. We are able to reaffirm that homeownership is still the most effective engine of wealth accumulation for middle-class Americans. Your efforts to grow your businesses are rebuilding this key market, which is now contributing strongly to our economic recovery, rather than holding it back" - Richard Cordray, executive director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, October 25, 2016 before the annual conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association in Boston, Massachusetts.

FACT-ASTIC
You can find a pretty good example of the "new normal" in the single-family mortgage market to which Mr. Cordray was referring at FHA - the Federal Housing Administration. In fact, in the fiscal year that just ended FHA enjoyed its sixth best year in history, endorsing more than 1.2 million mortgages with a total dollar value of more than $240 billion. That's providing a whole bunch of what HUD Secretary Castro likes to call "homeownership capital" into the economy. Closer to home, fiscal year 2016 was also a very good year for FHA in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon & Washington and all sorts of milestones reached in markets across the Region. The total value of mortgage insured by FHA in Twin Falls, for example, topped $800 million. $900 million in the Coeur d'Alene area, $1 billion in the Longview-Kelso area, $2 billion in the Ashland-Medford area, $3 billion in the Bremerton area, $4 billion in the Eugene-Springfield & Tri-Cities area, $8 billion in the Spokane area, $12 billion in the Boise area, and $35 billion in the Portland-Vancouver area. FDR & the Congress created FHA to open the doors of homeownership to the typical American family. Some 90 years & 1,766,904 mortgages in Alaska & the Northwest ^ since its creation in the 1930's., obviously, FHA's keeping them open.

WORTH A THOUGHT
How affordable is "affordable"?
If you've heard the theory once, you've probably heard it a hundred times - kids who grow-up in public or assisted rental housing are more likely than those who don't to be poor or in prison when they're adults. "Not so," suggests recently-published research by the National Bureau of Economic Research. "Remarkable things" happen "to poor kids," Max Ehrenfreund writes of the study in The Washington Post, "when you help their parents with the rent.".

WORTH A READ
A welcome partnership
Politics, we all probably first learned in a high school civics class, makes for strange bedfellows. This campaign season, in fact, probably more than any other. Consider, for example, the budding alliance between the Portland Business Alliance, a chamber of commerce, and Street Roots, a weekly newspaper by, for & about the homeless in Oregon's largest city. They - and many other organizations - have banded together to support a $258 million bond issue on this fall's ballot to support creation of some 13,000 affordable housing units. As Andrew Treen of The Oregonian reports, the two organizations have always been best buddies.

JUST PUBLISHED
Documents & data drops of interest
The Federal Register publishes HUD initial guidance on implementation of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 including identification of "those statutory provisions that are effective immediately and those provisions that will require further action by HUD". . .HUD Exchange posts in-depth InFocus briefing on Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program Notice of Funding Availability in advance of November 30th application deadline. . .EPA launches on-line library on the tools & resources American communities are using to meet challenges of climate change. . .HUD posts Part 2 of the 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report. . .Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes Your Money, Your Goals - Focus on Tribal Communities toolkit. . .FHA publishes update of Single Family Policy Handbook 4000.1. . .Oregon Department of Housing & Community Services posts on-line Manufactured Home Park Solutions Collaborative Local Agency Toolkit. . .HUD issues part 2 of the 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report. . .

NOTES TO NOTE
Oregon Infrastructure Authority sets November 1st deadline to submit comments on changes it's proposed to its 2017 Community Development Block Grant program for non-entitlement communities in Oregon. . .EPA sets November 6th deadline for rural communities to express interest in receiving free Rural Advantage technical assistance to "help revitalize their downtowns". . .HUD sets November 7th deadline for public comments on proposed revisions to its Section 203k acquisition & rehabilitation mortgage consultant fee schedule fee schedule. . .Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government sets November 7th & March 15th deadlines for state, county & local governments to apply for free technical assistance on managing "pay for success" programs. . .NeighborWorks America sets November 15th deadline for eligible community development financial institutions to apply for Project Reinvest: Homeownership grants to provide deferred down payment assistance to borrowers at 100 percent of Area Median Income. . .HUD sets November 28th deadline to submit comments on proposed changes in its condominium approval process. . .HUD sets November 30th deadline to apply for up to 10 grants - including 4 in rural communities - through the new, $33 million Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. . .USDA sets November 30th deadline Public food program service providers, tribal organizations, or private nonprofit entities to apply for some $8.6 million in Community Food Projects grants to meet "the food needs of low-income individuals through food distribution, community outreach to assist in participation in Federally assisted nutrition programs, or improving access to food". . .OMB sets December 5th deadline to submit public comments on HUD's proposal to collect information on utility & water consumption by its multifamily & public housing units. . .Oregon Business extends deadline for $125 million Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program until December 20th. . .EPA sets December 20th deadline to apply for brownfields clean-up assessment grants to proposals to "inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning (including cleanup planning) and community involvement related to brownfield sites". . .EPA also sets December 29th deadline to apply for up to 290 Brownfields Clean-Up grants.

COMING UP
EPA hosts Webinar on fiscal year 2017 Brownfields Assessment & Brownfields Clean-Up competition, November 1st, on-line.

View the very first meeting of the new Federal Housing Counseling Advisory Committee, November 1st, on-line from Washington, D.C.

Association of Idaho Cities hosts annual Energy & Green Building conference, November 1st & 2nd, Boise, Idaho.

King County Office of Civil Rights hosts All About Service Animals workshop, November 1st, Seattle, Washington.

HUD Northwest hosts on-line Basics of Fair Housing Webinar, November 2nd, on-line.

Washington Affordable Rural Housing Council hosts to Protect & Serve Property Management Webinar, November 2nd, on-line.

Pacific Northwest NAHRO hosts Uniform Physical Condition Standards workshop, November 7th, Renton, Washington.

HUD hosts Webinar for grantees & sub-grantees on HUD's Equal Access & Gender Identity rules, November 14th, on-line.

AHMA of Washington hosts Understanding HUD's HOME Investment Partnership Program Webinar, November 15th, on-line.

Alaska Municipal League hosts annual conference, November 14th to 18th, Anchorage, Alaska.

Oregon Association of Counties hosts annual conference, November 15th to 17th, Eugene, Oregon.

Washington Association of Counties hosts 2016 County Leaders conference, November 15th to 18th, Spokane, Washington.

King County Office of Civil Rights hosts First Steps: Best Practices to Promote Fair Housing workshop, November 16th, Seattle, Washington.

HUD hosts Webinar for grantees & sub-grantees on HUD's Equal Access & Gender Identity rules, November 16th, on-line.

Washington AHMA hosts Understanding HUD's HOME Investment Partnership program, November 16th, on-line.

King County Office of Civil Rights hosts Advanced Fair Housing seminar, November 16th, Seattle, Washington.

Idaho Smart Growth holds annual Grow Smart Awards ceremony, November 17th, Boise.

HUD hosts Webinar for grantees & sub-grantees on HUD's Equal Access & Gender Identity rules, November 17th, on-line.

Housing Development Consortium hosts Housing. . .and Aging Forum, November 17th, Seattle, Washington.

Oregon AHMA hosts a How to Get Ready for a HUD Management & Occupancy Review workshop, November 17th, Salem, Oregon.

Washington AHMA hosts a How to Get Ready for a REAC Uniform Physical Condition Standards inspection, December 6th, Tukwila, Washington.

King County Office of Civil Rights hosts workshop on Reasonable Accommodations & Modifications for Residents with Disabilities, December 12th, Seattle, Washington.

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