thumb018June 2007 - In the June edition of Housing Matters, TxLIHIS reports on some of the more significant housing bills to pass the 2007 session of the Texas Legislature .

pdf_logo_trefoil Housing Trust Funds (748k)
thumb017April 2007 - In the April edition of Housing Matters, TxLIHIS examines how housing trust funds have become the solution to housing problems at the local, state, and national levels. Drawing from the perspectives of three leading housing advocates, we explore challenges and opportunities for establishing a Texas Housing Trust Fund with an ongoing revenue source.

Enclosed in the newsletter is a DVD sponsored by Wachovia Bank that shows how a Texas Housing Trust Fund can support innovative programs that provide low-income Texans a “hand up” in their effort to obtain an affordable home.

Watch a 9 minute video explaining the Housing trust fund.

pdf_logo_trefoil Housing Trust Funds (1.3 m)
thumb016aNovember 2006 - In the November edition of Housing Matters, TxLIHIS announces the 2006 honorees. They are: Heather Way, attorney and housing advocate; Ruth Cedillo, retired deputy state housing director; Standish Meacham, University of Texas at Austin professor emeritus; and Austin Mayor Will Wynn.
pdf_logo_trefoil 2006 Texas Houser Awards (700k)


thumb016April 2006 - Fannie Mae claims to “hold diversity and inclusion...as one of our highest values.”

But is this value reflected in Fannie Mae’s track record? In a state so diverse as Texas, why is this diversity not reflected in homeownership rates? Why in Texas are just 46 percent of African-Americans and 56 percent of Hispanics homeowners, while 71 percent of Whites are homeowners? Does Fannie Mae play a role in this phenomenon?

In 2002, the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (TxLIHIS) embarked on a long-term research project to answer these questions. We discovered that there was no independent evaluation of Fannie Mae’s record of purchasing loans to minorities in Texas. So we decided to conduct the research ourselves. Over the next years, we studied Fannie Mae’s impact on the single-family home loan market for minorities in Dallas and Fort Worth.

Our research results, summarized in this newsletter, and presented completely on this web site, are troubling. Far from being a leader in serving minorities and low- and moderate-income borrowers, the majority of single family mortgage loans Fannie Mae purchases are directed at White and upper income families.

A 15 minute video summary is available.

pdf_logo_trefoil Closing the Gap of Closing the Door? (2.5m)


thumb015February 2006 - Five months have passed since President Bush resolved to confront the poverty exposed by Hurricane Katrina with bold action. In this issue of Housing Matters we tell the story of Alice, a hurricane evacuee living in Texas who fears that low- income victims of the hurricane will soon be forgotten.

Few would dispute the fact that the government botched the evacuation of people from the path of Katrina. A growing number of Texans share Alice’s fear that the current recovery effort for low-income evacuees is becoming yet another governmental failure.

pdf_logo_trefoil Evacuees face growing problems (1.2m)


thumb013December 2005 - Over 144,000 households were displaced by Hurricane Katrina to Texas. Many of these households had low incomes before the disaster and have no income today.

Helping these families find permanent, decent and affordable housing is very important.

This special issue of Housing Matters reports the findings of a public forum on the long-term housing needs of the hurricane survivors held at the Texas Capitol on October 11, 2005. The forum was sponsored by the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service along with Housing Texas, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers, Senators Royce West and Rodney Ellis and Representative Eddie Rodriguez.

Two panels composed of government officials, housing professionals, lenders, the faith community and hurricane survivors offered their views on two questions:

1) What are the housing needs of hurricane survivors in Texas?

2) What considerations should guide the provision of permanent housing for hurricane survivors?

The November issue of Housing Matters presents the results of this hurricane housing forum.

pdf_logo_trefoil Meeting hurricane evacuees long term needs (1.3m)



thumb012November 2005 - In Houston, poor, inner-city residents are receiving assistance in saving for their futures, so they can one day buy a home, or even start a business. In El Paso, families are working together to build sturdy, affordable homes. In one East Austin neighborhood, residents who feared they would be displaced by gentrification may now be able to continue living in the community they have called home for generations.

These stories of hope have been possible thanks to the work of three individuals dedicated to fighting poverty and providing decent housing for needy Texans. On November 1, the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (TxLIHIS) recognized these champions of housing justice with the 2005 Texas Houser Awards.

The 2005 honorees are: Stephan Fairfield, CEO of Covenant Community Capital; State Representative Eddie Rodriguez; and Nancy Hanson, Executive Director of the Lower Valley Housing Corporation.

In the October issue of Housing Matters we present the 2005 Texas Houser Award winners.

pdf_logo_trefoil 2005 Texas Houser Awards (280k)



thumb011October 2005 - Self-help housing programs provide affordable housing to low-income families and promote self-sufficiency. The Lower Valley Housing Corporation in El Paso County is operating one of the largest and most successful self-help programs in the nation.

The program is in-sync with broadly prevailing Texas values. Low-income Texas families should have a clear and safe path toward the independence and security of homeownership. Through hard work and reasonable sacrifices, Texas families should be able to own a safe, decent home.

For self-help housing to reach more people, Texas must modify existing programs and provide an adequate source of subdivision and mortgage financing. In the September issue of Housing Matters we explore how to make this happen.

You can preview this issue through a short audio slide show.

pdf_logo_trefoil Self-help housing (2.8m)



thumb010August 2005 - The first installment of the TxLIHIS Five Families project (featured in this newsletter) tells the story of the Vela Family - a family like almost one hundred thousand others living in colonias, who despite their best efforts are unable to break free from the shackles of poverty.

Through this ongoing series of the stories of five Texas families,TxLIHIS follows their aspirations and day-to-day lives and highlights the public policy issues that affect their ability to obtain decent housing. By chronicling their struggles over time, we are able to explore in detail the ways that their inability to obtain safe, decent, affordable housing has influenced their destinies.

An audio-slide show on the family is available

pdf_logo_trefoil One colonia family's struggle (456k)



thumb009July 2005 - Housing segregation in Texas cities has historically been among the highest in the nation. While racial segregation levels fell significantly from 1980 to 1990, the decrease in segregation slowed and in some Texas cities increased from 1990 to 2000.

In this newsletter, we explore the background of housing segregation in Texas and ask what should be done about the problem. To arrive at some answers, TxLIHIS interviewed Elizabeth “Betsy” Julian, the state’s leading expert on fair housing and a civil rights attorney who filed the landmark Young v. Kemp and Walker, et al v. HUD, et al housing desegregation lawsuits.

pdf_logo_trefoil Housing segregation (1.2m)



thumb008June 2005 - The 79th session of the Texas Legislature has come to a close—a legislative session producing solid progress for housing and the rights of housing consumers.

The Legislature advanced housing and consumer rights on many fronts: curbing predatory home financing arrangements, prioritizing decent housing for farm workers, providing solutions to gentrification, and aiding our most impoverished communities. Housing advocates raised media awareness and forged stronger relationships between grassroots housing allies across the state.

In this newsletter are the major accomplishments this session.

pdf_logo_trefoil Housing fares well in Legislature (663k)



thumb007April 2005 - A bill moving through the Texas Legislature this session is not a cartoon, but it is a caricature of housing policy reform. H.B. 1167, sponsored by Rep. Robert Talton, significantly weakens the state housing agency, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), and one of the most critical housing programs for the poor: the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC). It does so by taking away the State’s ability to oversee this program and transfers this power to private developers.

In this issue of Housing Matters we examine this bill in detail and report on the devastating effects it would have on affordable housing in Texas if it is enacted.

pdf_logo_trefoil The worst housing bill (272k)



thumb006March 2005 - Contracts for deed are largely responsible for creating thousands of colonias: unincorporated developments that lack basic public services. Although long associated with the Texas-Mexico border, colonias are now developing across the state, in rural counties and in the heart of major cities.

In this issue of Housing Matters we examine the problems posed by contracts for deeds and rent to own scams to communities and low-income families who are often victimized by these predatory sales practices.

pdf_logo_trefoil Home buying scams (272k)



thumb005February 2005 - TxLIHIS has consistently advocated more attention and resources be directed toward the housing needs of the poorest Texans. We are deeply troubled that most government housing subsidies go to upper and middle-income households rather than to the poor, who live in the worst housing conditions.

In this issue of Housing Matters we examine these inequities, reveal how current policies neglect the most vulnerable families, and dispel common myths about who are the beneficiaries of federal housing subsidy.

pdf_logo_trefoil Housing assistance bypasses neediest (408k)



thumb004January 2005 - In the January issue of Housing Matters we present our review of the top 40 Texas affordable housing issues for 2005 at the federal and state levels.

The newsletter also contains our predictions about what will happen on these issues along with New Year's resolutions we believe everyone should make.

pdf_logo_trefoil Top 40 Texas housing issues for 2005 (168k)



thumb003November 2004 - The November 2004 issue investigates the problems facing the Texas' largest public housing authority.

The San Antonio Housing Authority, burdened by management problems and poor tenant-relations, is undergoing reorganization at the hand of a young new CEO, Henry Alvarez. We interviewed Alverez about his background, his vision, and his views on specific housing policy issues.

The November issue also explains controversial management decisions at the housing authority and how those decisions have impacted the lives of San Antonio’s low-income families.

pdf_logo_trefoil San Antonio Housing Authority (480k)



thumb002October 2004 - The October 2004 issue features profiles of receipents of the 2004 Texas Houser Awards.

Each year, TxLIHIS gives three individuals or organizations a Texas Houser Award. In recognition of the importance of confronting the housing problem from multiple sectors, the awards are given in each of three categories: communtiy houser, activist houser and government houser.

the 2004 Texas Houser Awards were presented to Edwina Carrington, Exectuive Director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs; Walter Moreau, Executive Director of Foundation Communities, Austin and the Amistad Housing Development Corporation of Hereford, Texas.

pdf_logo_trefoil 2004 Texas Houser Awards (381k)



thumb001September 2004 - The September 2004 issue reports the results of our investigation into the living conditions of farm workers in the Texas Panhandle.

We found a paralyzing combination of a lack of market data on the farm worker housing deficit, a neglect of most of the existing farm worker housing, and a lack of local initiative to deal with the obvious substandard living conditions.

pdf_logo_trefoil Substandard farm worker housing (283k)