Corruption is a Difficult Fight

Dr. Ben Carson started with HIGH HOPES for the H.ousing U.nder D.rugs program. (The following article at the highlighted link is an interesting read.)

*https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/04/13/ben_carson_im_going_to_turn_hud_from_most_corrupt_federal_department_to_most_honest.html?fbclid=IwAR0l6AF0PdYasOmr2dAhNIZ845SkP8MdacTmp0wFfYoVSJFzlKahzFB-4DY

But now it looks like ethical Ben Carson may be stepping down from his position when his 4-years as Secretary ends. Can't really blame him; it's a corrupt housing program that is known to support corporations who deliberately violate fair housing laws and human rights of vulnerable tenants.  Truth be told, HUD is a gov't program that enriches some dirty corporations who pay some empowered people to look the other way when violations occur.  Sad to say the HUD website has been filled with deceptive statements about SAFE, DECENT, and FAIR HOUSING ever since Bill Clinton was President, and probably before then.  

Greed vs. Those In Need

Let's face it, most housing for low income people is unsafe, indecent, and disempowering.  Between flimsy walls, abusive management companies, extensive paper work and more, a residents life becomes an open book.  Some investors even publish comments about specific tenants should they speak out about unfair treatment or bad conditions!  Besides that, living at bad 'affordable housing complexes' further diminishes most people's self-esteem and rarely advances anyone in life, especially when a housing complex is out in the boondocks with extremely limited transportation.

In order for people with disabilities, the elderly, and the impoverished to be better able to obtain affordable and decent housing and advance their lives, people of all diversities and income levels need to come together and brainstorm outside the usual box.  There needs to be better alternatives than what is available now. These alternatives should include responsibilities where the unfortunate population could learn how to create a budget, how to invest, along with other opportunities to advance lives.  According to the New York Times article, listed below, less landlords are renting to families and individuals with Section 8 vouchers. Landlords feel as though they're not getting enough money and don't want the red tape. 
  * https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/us/politics/section-8-housing-vouchers-landlords.html

Whose Pockets Are Being Lined?

I just finished reading a very interesting article written by Christian Britschgi, entitled The Corrupt Politics of Low-Income Housing.  If you want to know the truth behind low-income housing, this article, published by 'reason, free minds and free markets', is a MUST READ. 

'The rent is too damn high—so each year Congress appropriates billions of dollars to address the nation's collective housing needs. The programs vary from loans to tax credits to straight-up subsidies, but a common feature is that federal taxpayers pony up the dough and then a motley collection of state-level politicians, financing agencies, and housing authorities decide how it's spent.'

 Click the link below to understand why and how corruption gets out of control in this type of taxpayer funded housing. It's outrageous! 
 * http://reason.com/archives/2018/01/15/the-corrupt-politics-of-low-in

Wells Fargo Rips Off Customers + Breaks Laws

U.S. House Committee on Financial Services:  July 2, 2018 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, in response to the Federal Reserve’s approval of Wells Fargo's capital plan to increase dividend payments by 10 percent and spend up to $24.5 billion on stock buybacks, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement:

“I am troubled by the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to approve Wells Fargo’s capital plan to handsomely reward its shareholders, including the megabank’s senior executives, despite engaging in a never-ending list of illicit activities. In recent years, the bank has opened 3.5 million fraudulent credit card and deposit accounts; engaged in illegal student loan servicing practices; charged inappropriate checking account overdraft fees; conducted unlawful mortgage lending practices, including overcharging veterans for refinanced loans; charged customers for auto insurance policies they did not need, which resulted in some customers losing their vehicles; and improperly sold complex financial products to retail investors.

“To date, no one has gone to jail for these crimes. While the bank was ordered to pay $1.5 billion in fines, these fines amount to the cost of doing business. Wells Fargo still racked up profits of $21 billion in 2016, $22 billion in 2017, and nearly $6 billion in the first quarter of this year, as the largest bank to benefit from the Republican tax law.

“I was pleased when the Federal Reserve, under former Chair Yellen, issued a cease and desist order in February to cap the megabank’s size until it cleans up its act. However, the Federal Reserve’s recent decision undermines that tough action and sends a terrible message by agreeing to let the bank pay out 141 percent of its expected annual earnings, the largest payout of the six largest U.S. banks. The bank’s executives should not be rewarded when the bank repeatedly rips off its customers and breaks the law.”

The Federal Reserve’s approval of Wells Fargo’s capital plan was conducted through the agency’s 2018 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR).

In 2017, Ranking Member Waters introduced the Megabank Accountability and Consequences Act, which requires federal prudential banking regulators to fully utilize their authorities to shut down megabanks that repeatedly harm consumers and hold culpable executives accountable.

In 2017, Waters also released a Democratic staff report detailing a pattern of abusive business practices by Wells Fargo, as well as a Democratic staff report documenting the successes of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Director Cordray, including penalties imposed on the bank for secretly opening fraudulent accounts. 

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Fake residents, incomes, + inflated mortgages

Another scandal in multifamily housing:  It appears there could be a deep, dark secret at the core of multifamily lending that could destroy the market. 

From a Wall Street Journal article:  
 Owners of an apartment complex near Pittsburgh, who wanted to take out a mortgage on the buildings, allegedly made vacant units look occupied by turning on radios, placing shoes and mats outside doors and in one instance having a woman tell inspectors her boyfriend was asleep inside.      . . .  

According to the WSJ article, the investigation has already led to an indictment against four individuals for allegedly conspiring to falsify loan information in order to obtain more than $167 million in multifamily loans.  The article provides extensive details to some pretty brazen fraud allegations involving the loans backing approximately $1.5 billion in mortgage securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read more; click housing wire link.)
 * http://www.housingwire.com/articles/46496-inside-the-scandal-that-could-explode-multifamily-real-estate

Keeping Residents Informed: REAC Inspections

What is a HUD REAC inspection?  The Real Estate Assessment Center's (REAC) mission is to provide and promote the effective use of accurate, timely and reliable information assessing the condition of HUD's portfolio; to provide information to help ensure safe, decent and affordable housing; and to restore the public trust by identifying fraud, abuse and waste of HUD resources.  (Yet, there have always been HUD properties, with unsatisfactory REAC scores, still doing business with unethical corporate landlords.) 

Prior to the REAC inspection date, the Property Owner/Agent or Public Housing Authority conducts a complete (100%) inspection of the property. It should include the site, all building exteriors, all building systems, all common areas and all units. For clarification purposes: all areas within a building that are not residential units are considered common areas for the REAC inspection.
* https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/DOC_17204.PDF

This REAC inspection checklist is dated January 2016, but is still used by HUD officials in 2018. It may be helpful for tenants and any tenant organizations to have this inspection list on hand along with your local Board of Health building codes checklist.
 ** https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/REACINSPECTCHCKLIST.PDF

The Joys of 'Affordable' Housing

From Rooms to Wombs . . . Subsidized or 'Affordable' housing is Socialist housing which eventually leads to Communism where the rights of families and individuals are limited and eventually get taken away. Corporate landlords don't only want to see inside your rented apartment several times each year; they also want to see inside your womb.
* http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article210731054.html

. . . While big corporate landlords, like Boston Capital, etc., collect tax dollars, they're not always forced to comply with laws.
** http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article166583487.html


The subsidized apartment complex mentioned in the previous news story isn't the only 'affordable housing' complex that violates tenant rights. Spring Gate Apartments in Rockland, MA hasn't complied with laws or tenant rights during renovations which involved constant hammering next to bedrooms before 8:00 a.m. Noise ordinances, fair housing laws, and other laws are NOT enforced for vulnerable tenants in such housing complexes. Sometimes decent tenants are deliberately harassed and annoyed by corporate landlords and management. The goal is to coerce certain tenants to move out of the nuisance housing complex. Yes, it's illegal, but they get away with doing that too.
** http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article166583487.html

Sharing the Joy from Spring Gate Apts.

 . . . Still waiting for Mr. Wm. M. Connolly  to turn Rockland Place Apts. dba Spring Gate Apartments into an ASSET for the Town of Rockland as he promised he would do.  Just last month 2 different banks were robbed within 2-weeks by one of the residents he rents a subsidized apartment to.  From  perverts to drug dealers, it's definitely not the first time trouble has spread to the outer community from inside this subsidized housing complex.
  
*** http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20180424/police-say-woman-out-on-bail-tried-to-rob-abington-bank-with-grocery-bag-over-her-head

*** http://rockland.wickedlocal.com/news/20160803/brockton-bicycle-thief-held-without-bail-for-multiple-house-breaks

**** http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20180424/police-say-woman-out-on-bail-tried-to-rob-abington-bank-with-grocery-bag-over-her-head

***** http://rockland.wickedlocal.com/x1056546451

Criminal Background Checks . . . The news stories above are just tidbits of what goes on in, and from, subsidized housing.  Seems there ought to be better housing opportunities available for innocent people with little income, especially while large corporations enrich themselves with government tax credits and government money from subsidized rents.  Spring Gate reminds some people of a prison facility. It doesn't provide opportunity for low-income, law-abiding, rent payers to grow and advance their lives.  In fact, this type of subsidized housing can be detrimental and destructive to those who speak the truth.

Elderly Woman and Daughter Homeless

* Some people prefer homelessness over subsidized housing.   http://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/local-news/homeless-woman-daughter-struggle-with-finding-permanent-housing (outside link)

Puzzled by All the Inspections?

A new kind of inspection is taking place at Rockland Place dba Spring Gate Apartments along Martha Drive and Hannah Way in Rockland, MA.  U.S. Housing Consultants call it a pre-REAC Inspection. This pre-inspection has taken place over the last 3-days, April 4, 5, 6, 2018 from 9-5. The notice, from current on-site manager, Donna Burks-Smith, was taped to the outside door of each building in the early evening hours. So if you didn't go outside, you weren't notified.  Hoping you didn't have unexpected strangers inside your home on one of those days. (Is this why they don't allow guns on HUD properties?) 

    The notice clearly states they will use their pass key to get inside your apartment if you don't respond to their knock.  You must have your pets caged from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for 3-days because you may receive a random visit.  This pre-inspection is in preparation for an actual REAC inspection in July 2018.
    There will be more articles written on this blog to inform puzzled residents some of what these 'inspectors' look for when they visit the property. 
* A Housing Complex in Charlotte, NC fails REAC inspection (maybe they didn't hire a lobbyist?)  http://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/local-news/investigation-townhouse-complex-fails-inspection-could-lose-700000-in-funding (outside link)

So many tenants are growing frustrated with having to open their homes to numerous strangers. Residents are being extremely inconvenienced with extensive paper work and too many visits from managers, owners, investors, state, and federal employees.  At least one resident had to vacate their home for 4-5 months out of 1-year due to an asbestos problem that seemed to disintegrate after Neil H. Ellis and William M. Connolly of Connolly + Partners and First Hartford Corp., etc. etc., paid a lobbyist to talk with a Massachusetts official. There once was a time when only one apartment inspection per year was required and maybe 2 maintenance visits which was more reasonable and humane.  I think most residents know when something in their homes need repair.  They probably even know how to phone the office to notify maintenance/management that they need a repair.  Imagine that!
      
  If you think it's no big deal to have numerous strangers visit your home at inconvenient and numerous times each year, then you've never had to live with such upset and chaos.

@MollyParkerSI  #MollyParker @POTUS45