RAMP and Repair Affair are initiatives of the Realtor®-Community Housing Foundation of the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors®. The foundation helps individuals achieve their dreams of homeownership

“Realtors® build communities and care as much about keeping families in their homes as they do about getting them into homes,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “The home repairs and modifications done by the RAMP and Repair Affair programs are crucial to helping area homeowners live independently and remain in their homes. These two programs have been incredibly successful and could be easily replicated in cities and towns across the country.”

Repair Affair is an annual event that helps low-income elderly homeowners with repairs to the exterior of their homes. Many elderly homeowners live on fixed incomes and often cannot afford high home maintenance costs; if conditions become unsafe, elderly homeowners may be forced to move from their homes. Since 1992, the initiative has helped nearly 600 elderly homeowners stay in their homes.

RAMP installs accessible ramps and wheelchair lifts for low-income people with mobility impairments or disabilities, providing more than 150 homeowners to date with safer, easier access in and out of their homes.

The majority of funding for the two programs is provided by an annual grant from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Repairs and modifications are completed by Realtors®, the Remodelers Council of the Home Builders Association of Lexington, and various community volunteers.

At an event today, Realtor® Len Ferber, 2009 chair of the Housing Opportunity Committee, and Realtor® Jayne Cox, NAR Region IV vice president, joined Dustin Joyce, Council for the New American City, to present the Ambassador for Cities plaque and a $5,000 check to 2009 Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors® President Gale Fulton, RCHF President Karen Mundy, and Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry.

NAR and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, through its Council on the New American City, launched the Ambassadors for Cities program in 2003 to encourage cities and local Realtor® associations to form partnerships to promote affordable housing and homeownership.

“We are pleased that 18 organizations participated in today’s important commercial real estate industry meeting in order to identify commonalities and set priorities to present to policy makers and regulators to stabilize, strengthen and grow this important sector,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“The commercial real estate market represents a significant element of the nation’s economic infrastructure. Yet, over the last year the broader financial credit crisis has severely curtailed commercial real estate lending activity and brought securitization markets to a halt. Providing liquidity and facilitating lending is essential to restore confidence and stability to the industry as a whole,” McMillan said.

“Neighborhoods are built around businesses, large retail centers, office buildings and small family-run shops. The health and vitality of commercial real estate supports a strong housing market, which in turn plays a key role in the national economy. We are all connected,” he said.

Bob Toothaker, chair of NAR’s Realtor® Commercial Alliance and host of the meeting, said, “We face a liquidity crisis, the likes of which most of us have not seen in our lifetime. There is not one silver bullet to fix the huge problem, but we believe there are key steps that can be and should be taken to ensure the continued health and vitality of the commercial real estate industry.

“NAR, large brokers and allied commercial real estate partners stand ready to work with Congress, regulators and the administration to confront this crisis. We are prepared to tell our stories and share our ideas and solutions,” Toothaker said.

Toothaker emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to the current crisis in the commercial credit markets. “As a group we strongly support the development of programs and initiatives that will provide liquidity and facilitate lending in the commercial real estate finance markets. Today we all agreed to work together to educate policymakers and provide solutions that address these priority issues, which will have the greatest impact on credit availability, liquidity and investor confidence.

“We applaud efforts to improve programs, such as the expansion of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility program and the new issue of Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities, as well as the creation of the Public Private Investment Program to promote new lending,” he said.

NAR, along with many in today’s coalition meeting, believes the success of programs and initiatives aimed at restoring liquidity and stability to the markets is intrinsically tied to and must work in conjunction with supportive federal tax policies and accounting principles that support commercial real estate lending.

According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, commercial real estate is the hardest hit industry outside of the auto industry. “A recovery in commercial real estate always lags a general economic recovery, but with the right policy prescriptions we can recover more quickly,” said Yun.

Existing Home Sales - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops - rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 4.77 million units in May from a downwardly revised level of 4.66 million units in April, but remained 3.6 percent below the 4.95 million-unit pace in May 2008.

Yun, NAR’s chief economist expected an improvement. “Historically low mortgage interest rates clearly drew buyers into the market, and housing remains very affordable even with a recent uptick in rates,” he said. “First-time buyers also are being drawn off the sidelines by the $8,000 tax credit, which is helping to absorb inventory. However, the increase in sales is less than expected because poor appraisals are stalling transactions. Pending home sales indicated much stronger activity, but some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 4.86 percent in May from a record low 4.81 percent in April; the rate was 6.04 percent in May 2008. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed at 5.38 percent; data collection began in 1971.

Total housing inventory at the end of May fell 3.5 percent to 3.80 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.6-month supply² at the current sales pace, down from a 10.1-month supply in April.

Yun said the appraisal problem is serious. “Lenders are using appraisers who may not be familiar with a neighborhood, or who compare traditional homes with distressed and discounted sales,” he said. “In the past month, stories of appraisal problems have been snowballing from across the country with many contracts falling through at the last moment. There is danger of a delayed housing market recovery and a further rise in foreclosures if the appraisal problems are not quickly corrected.”

An NAR practitioner survey in May showed first-time buyers accounted for 29 percent of transactions, and that the number of buyers looking at homes is nearly 10 percentage points higher than a year ago. “This is the time of year when we see large increases in the number of repeat buyers, who are benefitting from sales to entry-level buyers,” Yun said. “Investors appear less active, but are more prevalent in areas with large price corrections.”

“NAR and our 1.2 million members commend President Obama for developing a comprehensive financial regulatory reform framework. As we have repeatedly noted, it is important to have strong supervision and regulation of the nation’s financial system to ensure we never again find ourselves in this current financial and housing turmoil.

“Rebuilding consumer trust in the various markets is important to an economic recovery, and Obama’s proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency offers the potential to regulate and protect consumers from fraud, predatory lending and other deceptive practices. We look forward to working with Congress and the administration to shape such an organization.

“NAR also appreciates elements of the proposal that will strengthen the national policy against mixing banking and commercial activities. This safeguard is in the best interest of consumers and the nation’s economy.

“Regulatory reform will be a monumental undertaking. NAR looks forward to working with our members, Congress, and the administration to craft a final product that allows for efficient, competitive, and innovative markets while providing consumers the protection they need and deserve.”

FHA’s market share has grown from less than 3 percent to more than 25 percent in a short period of time. NAR submitted testimony to the House Financial Services Subcommittee expressing support for increased FHA staffing and resources to keep up with this rising demand.

“As the leading advocate for homeownership, NAR strongly supports FHA’s single- and multifamily mortgage insurance programs, and we have worked diligently with Congress to fashion housing policies that ensure federal housing programs meet their mission responsibly and efficiently,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “FHA is now the primary source of safe affordable mortgage financing for American families. To keep up with increasing demand, FHA must expand its capabilities, but FHA has not yet received the additional staffing and other resources commensurate with its expanded role in financing mortgages.”

Realtors® have advocated strengthening oversight of and preventing fraud in FHA and other U.S. Housing and Urban Development programs for several years. Despite voiced concerns about FHA’s soundness and oversight, studies show that FHA remains financially sound and should remain so in the coming years. The FHA-approved group of lenders maintains strict oversight of loan originators.

“Since FHA has been underinvested in for a number of years, we hope Congress will act now to provide them with resources to increase staffing and invest in technological improvements. We believe provisions of what the U.S. Senate has proposed regarding FHA loans in S. 896, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, will be a big step in providing the type of necessary oversight now that FHA is such a major force in the market,” McMillan said. “We look forward to working with Congress and HUD to make sure that FHA continues to offer stable, affordable, safe options for home buyers across the country.”

In testimony today before the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, NAR expressed support for the approach and overarching goals behind the Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods (GREEN) Act, H.R. 2336.

“Realtors® build communities, and environmental issues related to housing and development affect our global community,” said Realtor® David Wluka, a member of NAR’s Global Climate Change Presidential Advisory Group who spoke on behalf of the association. “NAR is committed to efforts that advance consumer understanding of the need for energy efficiency and to reduce energy use. Toward that end, we support the proposed GREEN Act’s goals of encouraging energy efficiency and conservation in our nation’s housing stock.”

H.R. 2336 would establish incentives to encourage energy efficient building, rehabilitation and upgrades. In addition, the bill provides a loan fund for states to implement renewable energy projects and would encourage a number of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development demonstration and pilot programs that would provide best practices and great experiences for promoting energy efficiency in housing.

While NAR supports the broad goals of the proposed legislation, Realtors® are concerned about a small number of the bill’s provisions, although these are issues that easily could be addressed. However, Wluka expressed stronger concern about proposed provisions in a related bill, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would create a system of energy labels for homes and buildings across the country.

“Labeling every home in America will not improve building efficiency,” said Wluka. “During this time of economic crisis, many families and commercial property owners do not have the financial resources to make needed energy-related improvements. Adding to the cost of homeownership would compound the challenges many homeowners are already facing.”

“We know that many of today’s consumers want homes and communities that are sensitive to the larger environment, and we are pleased that the GREEN Act would offer resources and incentives to homeowners to help them improve the energy efficiency of their homes,” said Wluka. “The consumer education efforts funded by this legislation would also increase public awareness of the availability of energy efficient mortgages and encourage movement toward green housing.”

“NAR and our 1.2 million members applaud the Business Roundtable for its sound policy recommendations put forth to reinvigorate our nation’s housing market. The proposal they announced today is consistent with the recommendations NAR has advocated and reflects the critical need to continue efforts to bring stability to the housing market.

“As President Barack Obama, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have all noted, there can be no economic recovery without stabilization in the housing market. We believe NAR’s recommendations, along with those from other groups like BRT, are necessary and need to be implemented quickly.

“NAR has called on Congress and the Obama administration to expand the first-time home buyer tax credit to all home buyers, regardless of income. In addition, it is imperative to maintain mortgage interest rates below 5 percent, make the loan limit increases permanent, and strengthen foreclosure mitigation and loan modification efforts. These are all actions that BRT is fully supporting and we welcome their involvement.

“We look forward to working with the BRT and urge Congress and the administration to continue to put measures in place to reduce foreclosures and housing inventory, and stabilize home values.”

The Department of the Treasury is also aware of several fraudulent schemes that involve what are claimed to be securities issued or backed by the Treasury Department or another part of the U.S. Government.  These scams have been directed towards banks, charities, individuals, and companies which seek payment on the fraudulent securities.  

Recently, Treasury OIG has become aware of a different variation of this scheme.  Individuals are obtaining routing numbers from two Treasury bureaus, the Financial Management Service (FMS) and the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD).  Fraudulent seminars are being held throughout the United States, which teach attendees how to create the aforementioned fictitious documents and how to use federal routing numbers.  Individuals are now creating false checking accounts with the federal routing numbers, using their social security number as the checking account number, and listing the bank as either the FMS or the BPD.  Be advised that as Treasury bureaus and the Treasury Direct Program do NOT offer checking accounts for the public, they will NOT honor any of these checks.

Sample fraudulent documents, which falsely utilize names of Treasury bureaus and/or officials, are provided below for reference.  These documents are NOT valid negotiable financial instruments and recipients should NOT respond to, nor act upon, such documents.  In addition to browsing the documents below, you may visit the official website of the Bureau of the Public Debt for more information on this topic and how to avoid becoming a victim of this type of fraud.