OREGON REAL ESTATE ROUND TABLE

Category: Business

  • Bend’s economy is coming back to life, By Ben Jacklet, Oregon Business Magazine


    Location of Central Oregon in Oregon based on ...
    Image via Wikipedia

    Shelly Hummel has been selling homes in Bend for more than 20 years, and she’s got the attitude to match: upbeat, confident, a dog-lover who took up skiing at age 4. She labors to keep things positive, but every so often her frustration slips free: “The banks just kept giving the builders money, without even looking at plans or doing drive-bys of the places they were selling. The market just exploded with new construction. Boom! Selling stuff off of floor plans. Unfortunately, selling them to people who had no business buying them. It was a perfect storm of stupidity.”

    We are touring the wreckage of that storm in Hummel’s Cadillac Escalade, driving down Brookswood Boulevard into a former pine forest that now hosts a swath of housing developments with names like Copper Canyon and Quail Pine. “This was the boundary line until 2003,” says Hummel. “These roads dead-ended. That home sold for $350,000. Now it’s on the market for $175,000. Short sale.”

    Hummel never intended to become a “certified distressed property expert” specializing in selling homes for less than is owed on their mortgages. But in Bend, she didn’t have much of a choice. No city in Oregon — or arguably, the nation — experienced a more dramatic reversal of fortunes during the Great Recession than Bend, the economic engine for Central Oregon. Home values got cut in half. Unemployment soared to over 16%. A once-promising aviation sector imploded. So did an overheated market for destination resorts. Brokers, builders and speculators once flush with cash woke up underwater and flailing. Banks renowned for their no-document, easy-money loans stopped lending. Layoffs led to notices of default; foreclosure brought bankruptcy.

    How does a community recover from economic meltdown? That is the central question I am trying to answer about Bend. I start my inquiry at the offices of Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO), an organization formed to diversify the economy after the last major recession in the region, in the 1980s. My meeting is with executive director Roger Lee, marketing manager Ruth Lindley and business development manager Eric Strobel. I turn on my digital recorder and say, “I’d like to hear your take on how the recession impacted Bend’s economy.”

    Silence. I read their expressions: Not this again.

    It takes some time, but over the course of the interview they paint a sharp portrait of what went wrong and why. A local housing boom “fueled by speculation, not solid economics,” in Lee’s words, crashed. The local crash coincided with a national housing slump that devastated Bend’s major traded sector of building supplies. The final blow was the collapse of the local general aviation industry. Cessna shut down its local plant in April 2009. Epic Aircraft, the other major employer at the airport, went bankrupt.

    “Aviation was our diversification away from construction and wood products,” says Strobel. “We had thousands of employees out at Bend Airport. It was the largest aviation cluster in the state… It just completely fell apart in six months.”

    Read more: Bend’s economy is coming back to life – Oregon Business http://www.oregonbusiness.com/articles/101-july-2011/5460-bends-economy-is-coming-back-to-life#ixzz1QVF66anh

     
    Related articles

  • Use Caution When Selling REO Properties, by Phil Querin, PMAR Legal Counsel, Querin Law, LLC Q-Law.com


    Foreclosure Sign, Mortgage Crisis
    Image via Wikipedia

    By now, most Realtors® have heard the rumblings about defective bank foreclosures in Oregon and elsewhere. What you may not have heard is that these flawed foreclosures can result in potential title problems down the road. 

    Here’s the “Readers Digest” version of the issue: Several recent federal court cases in Oregon  have chastised lenders for failing to follow the trust deed foreclosure law. This law, found inORS 86.735(1), essentially says that before a lender may foreclose, it must record all assignments of the underlying trust deed. This requirement assures that the lender purporting to currently hold the note and trust deed can show the trail of assignments back to the original  bank that first made the loan.

    Due to poor record keeping, many banks cannot easily locate the several assignments that  occurred over the life of the trust deed. Since Oregon’s law only requires assignment as a condition to foreclosing, the reality of the requirement didn’t hit home until the foreclosure crisis was in full swing, i.e. 2008 and after.

    Being unable to now comply with the successive recording requirement, the statute was frequently ignored. The result was that most foreclosures in Oregon were potentially based upon a flawed process. One recent federal case held that the failure to record intervening assignments resulted in the foreclosure being “void.” In short, a complete nullity – as if it never occurred.

    Aware of this law, the Oregon title industry is considering inserting a limitation on the scope of its policy coverage in certain REO sales. The limitation would apply where the underlying foreclosure did not comply with the assignment recording requirement of ORS 86.735(1). This means that the purchaser of certain bank-owned homes may not get complete coverage under their owner’s title policy. Since many banks have not generally given any warranties in their

    REO deeds, there is a risk that a buyer will have no recourse (i.e. under their deed or their title insurance policy) should someone later attack the legality of the underlying foreclosure.

    Realtors® representing buyers of REO properties should keep this issue in mind. While this is  not to suggest that brokers become “title sleuths,” it is to suggest that they be generally aware of the issue, and mention it to their clients, when appropriate. If necessary, clients should be told to consult their own attorney. This is the “value proposition” that a well-informed Realtor®  brings to the table in all REO transactions.

    ©2011 Phillip C. Querin, QUERIN LAW, LLC

    Visit Phil Querin’s web site for more information about Oregon Real Estate Law http://www.q-law.com

    Related articles

  • A New Twist on the Old Contractor Lockbox


    Asset managers REO brokers and affiliates, what we show you may scare you.

    Although contractor lockboxes are a necessity in the REO world unfortunately they are also great for inviting unwanted attention to your vacant asset. We try to hide the lockbox on the gas meter or the water spigot, but many times they end up living on the front door knob. Nosey neighbors and bored kids love to try to get into your vacant homes to take a look, sometimes wary travelers or homeless people seek homage in your place. Much of this can be avoided simply by not drawing attention to the fact that the home is vacant.

    Obviously better than leaving the key on top of the outdoor sconce, the contractor lockbox does provide a more difficult way for someone to access the key. However, as you just witnessed in the video above, a handheld hammer and 5 whacks cracks it wide open. Even scarier is how easy it is to pick a push style model. Without force or any damage, the code of a push style contractor lockbox can be easily determined by pressing the clear key and running through the numbers. Within 30 seconds most people can gain access using this method.

     

    The Bottom of the St. Helens RocLok Lock Box model.

    Unfortunately with all of the trade’s people needing access to the place, keeping a key hidden at the property is a must. Electronic Realtor lockboxes offer better security however the electronic key to open them is not available to subs and contractors for the trash out or repairs. So what is the answer? After 7 years as an REO broker, Ryan Belshee came up with a solution to this problem, The RocLok Hide a Key.

    Combining the security of the contractor lockbox and a faux rock that looks, weighs and adapts just like natural stone; the RocLok provides the much needed disguise other key hiding safes lack.

    Just like any other lockbox, the RocLok has a 3 digit, re-adjustable code that safeguards spare keys. The code is set by you and changed as frequently as needed when in the unlocked state. However, the most notable improvement is that instead of screaming, “I’m hiding a key, come and get it,” the RocLok hides in plain sight. Nothing like the little pebble sized plastic rocks that have been around for decades, the RocLok is a 12 pound concrete based rock. It is weather and impact resistant, ages naturally and doesn’t depend on batteries or power to operate.

    The use of the RocLok in your field services will reduce break-ins and reduce the cost of servicing the

    The St. Helens RocLok Lock Box Hides Keys Disguised as a Natural Rock

    asset. As an additional safety precaution the RocLok is now available with the new LokDown System allowing the agent to secure it to the ground, tree or pole meaning no one is going to walk off with your keys without a lot of work. The LokDown was designed to withstand over 250 lbs of lifting force when installed into the ground and much more if attached to a pole or other solid object.

    For more information about the RocLok Hide a Key or to purchase one please visit: www.RocLok.com – Bulk orders are available and can be shipped to multiple locations for easier disbursement. Contact us at: info@roclok.com to obtain accurate pricing.

     

  • Report Reveals Racial Disparities in Mortgage Lending, Posted in Financial News, Mortgage Rates, Refinance


    Funds used for refinancing home mortgages were less available in the minority sections of major U.S. cities than in predominantly white areas after the recent housing crash, according to a new study released on Thursday. The study, compiled by a coalition of nonprofit groups across the country, revealed that refinancing in minority areas has decreased since the recession.

    Mortgage Refinancing Drops 17 Percent in Minority Areas

    The report, titled “Paying More for the American Dream V,” took a look at seven metropolitan areas–Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York City and Rochester, N.Y.–to explore conventional mortgage refinancing.

    The study, compiled by groups like California Reinvestment, the Woodstock Institute in Chicago and the Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, revealed the following:

    • Refinancing in minority areas decreased by an average of 17 percent in 2009 compared with the year prior.
    • Refinancing in white areas jumped by 129 percent.
    • Lenders “were more than twice as likely” to deny applications for refinancing by borrowers living in minority communities than in majority white neighborhoods.

    The report also found that minority borrowers were more likely to obtain a high-risk subprime mortgage loan than white borrowers, even if their credit was good.

    Lenders Urged to Invest More in Low-Income Communities

    Because of the inconsistency the study’s authors found in lending practices, they are concerned that there are ongoing racial disparities in mortgage lending as a whole.

    Adam Rust, Director of Research at the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, noted in statement “Lenders are loosening up credit in predominantly white neighborhoods, while continuing to deprive communities of color of vital refinancing needed to aid in their economic recovery.”

    To aid the issue, the authors are urging lenders to make changes, including:

    • Investing more in low-income communities
    • Improving disclosure requirements to protect unwary borrowers

    They noted that it is subprime loans that contributed largely to the housing market crash because not only were they given to those with poor credit, but income was never checked to confirm that borrowers could repay the balance.

    With foreclosures expected to flow heavily in the months to come and home sales still struggling, the authors believe that expanding fair lending opportunities to all who qualify could help repair the housing industry. It’s for this reason they think changes to lending practices should be a top priority for financial institutions.

    Related Articles

  • Strategic Defaults Revisited: This Could Get Very Ugly, by Keith Jurow, Minyanville.com


    In an article posted on Minyanville last September — Strategic Defaults Threaten All Major US Housing Markets — I discussed the growing threat that so-called “strategic defaults” posed to major metros which had experienced a housing bubble. With home prices showing renewed weakness again, now is a good time to revisit this important issue.

    What Is Meant By Strategic Default?

    According to Wikipedia, a strategic default is “the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e., default) on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the payments.” This definition has become the commonly accepted view.

    I define a strategic defaulter to be any borrower who goes from never having missed a payment directly into a 90-day default. A good graph which I will discuss shortly illustrates my definition.

    Who Walks Away from Their Mortgage?

    When home prices were rising rapidly during the bubble years of 2003-2006, it was almost inconceivable that a homeowner would voluntarily stop making payments on the mortgage and lapse into default while having the financial means to remain current on the loan.

    Then something happened which changed everything. Prices in most bubble metros leveled off in early 2006 before starting to decline. With certain exceptions, home prices have been falling quite steadily since then around the country. In recent memory, this was something totally new and it has radically altered how most homeowners view their house.

    In those major metros where prices soared the most during the housing bubble, homeowners who have strategically defaulted share three essential assumptions: 

    • The value of their home would not recover to their original purchase price for quite a few years.
    • They could rent a house similar to theirs for considerably less than what they were paying on the mortgage.
    • They could sock away tens of thousands of dollars by stopping mortgage payments before the lender finally got around to foreclosing.

    Put yourself into the mind and shoes of an underwater homeowner who held these three assumptions. Can you see how the temptation to default might be difficult to resist?

    Who Does Not Walk Away?

    Most underwater homeowners continue to pay their mortgage. An article posted online in early February by USA Today discusses the dilemma faced by underwater homeowners in Merced, California, a city which has suffered one of the steepest collapses in home prices since their bubble burst in 2006.

    The author cites the situation of one couple who had bought their home in 2006 for $241,000. They doubted it would bring more than $140,000 today. The husband considered the idea of looking for a better job in another state. But that meant selling the house for a huge loss or giving the house back to the bank and walking away. They refused to do that. The reason was simple in their mind. They made an agreement when they took out the mortgage.

    The same explanation was given by another couple in their 50s who owe $375,000 on their loan and believe it would not sell for more than $150,000. They both work and can afford the mortgage payment. They are very attached to their home and feel a moral obligation to pay the mortgage. Yet they know that many others have walked away. Because they refuse to bail out of their loan, they concede that they are stuck and described their situation as a “bitter pill.”

    Two Key Studies Show that Strategic Defaults Continue to Grow

    Last year, two important studies were published which have tried to get a handle on strategic defaults. First came an April report by three Morgan Stanley analysts entitled “Understanding Strategic Defaults.”

    The study analyzed 6.5 million anonymous credit reports from TransUnion’s enormous database while focusing on first lien mortgages taken out between 2004 and 2007.

    The authors found that loans originated in 2007 had a significantly higher percentage of strategic defaults than those originated in 2004. The following chart clearly shows this difference.

    chart

    Why are the 2007 borrowers strategically defaulting much more often than the 2004 borrowers? Prices were rising rapidly in 2004 whereas they were falling in nearly all markets by 2007. So the 2007 loans were considerably more underwater than the 2004 loans.

    Note also that the strategic default rate rises very sharply at higher Vantage credit scores. (Vantage scoring was developed jointly by the three credit reporting agencies and now competes with FICO scoring.)

    Another chart shows us that even for loans originated in 2007, the strategic default percentage climbs with higher credit scores.

    chart

    Notice in this chart that although the percentage of all loans which defaulted declines as the Vantage score rises, the percentage of defaults which are strategic actually rises.

    A safe conclusion to draw from these two charts is that homeowners with high credit scores have less to lose by walking away from their mortgage. The provider of these credit scores, VantageScore Solutions, has reported that the credit score of a homeowner who defaults and ends up in foreclosure falls by an average of 21%. This is probably acceptable for a borrower who can pocket perhaps $40,000 to $60,000 or more by stopping the mortgage payment.

    Why Do Homeowners Strategically Default?

    Is there a decisive factor that causes a strategic default? To answer this, we need to turn to the other recent study.

    Last May, a very significant analysis of strategic defaults was published by the Federal Reserve Board. Entitled “The Depth of Negative Equity and Mortgage Default Decisions,” it was extremely focused in scope. The authors examined 133,000 non-prime first lien purchase mortgages originated in 2006 for single-family properties in the four bubble states where prices collapsed the most — California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. All of the mortgages provided 100% financing with no down payment.

    By September 2009, an astounding 80% of all these homeowners had defaulted. Half of these defaults occurred less than 18 months from the origination date. During that time, prices had dropped by roughly 20%. By September 2009 when the study’s observation period ended, median prices had fallen by roughly another 20%.

    This study really zeroes in on the impact which negative equity has on the decision to walk away from the mortgage. Take a look at this first chart which shows strategic default percentages at different stages of being underwater.

    chart
    Source: 2010 FRB study

    Notice that the percentage of defaults which are strategic rises steadily as negative equity increases. For example, with FICO scores between 660 and 720, roughly 45% of defaults are strategic when the mortgage amount is 50% more than the value of the home. When the loan is 70% more than the house’s value, 60% of the defaults were strategic.

    This last chart focuses on the impact which negative equity has on strategic defaults based upon whether or not the homeowner missed any mortgage payments prior to defaulting.

    chart
    Source: 2010 FRB study

    This chart shows what I consider to be the best measure of strategic defaulters. It separates defaulting homeowners by whether or not they missed any mortgage payments prior to defaulting. As I see it, a homeowner who suddenly goes from never missing a mortgage payment to defaulting has made a conscious decision to default.

    The chart reveals that when the mortgage exceeds the home value by 60%, roughly 55% of the defaults are considered to be strategic. For those strategic defaulters who are this far underwater, the benefits of stopping the mortgage payment outweigh the drawbacks (or “costs” as the authors portray it) enough to overcome whatever reservations they might have about walking away.

    Where Do We Go From Here?

    The implications of this FRB report are really grim. Keep in mind that 80% of the 133,000 no-down-payment loans examined had gone into default within three years. Clearly, homeowners with no skin in the game have little incentive to continue paying the loan when the property goes further and further underwater.

    While the bulk of the zero-down-payment first liens originated in 2006 have already gone into default, there are millions of 80/20 piggy-back loans originated in 2004-2006 which have not.

    We know from reports issued by LoanPerformance that roughly 33% of all the Alt A loans securitized in 2004-2006 were 80/20 no-down-payment deals. Also, more than 20% of all the subprime loans in these mortgage-backed security pools had no down payments.

    Here is the most ominous statistic of them all. In my article on the looming home equity line of credit (HELOC) disaster posted here in early September (Home Equity Lines of Credit: The Next Looming Disaster?), I pointed out that there were roughly 13 million HELOCs outstanding. This HELOC madness was concentrated in California where more than 2.3 million were originated in 2005-2006 alone.

    How many of these homes with HELOCs are underwater today? Roughly 98% of them, and maybe more. Equifax reported that in July 2009, the average HELOC balance nationwide for homeowners with prime first mortgages was nearly $125,000. Yet the studies which discuss how many homeowners are underwater have examined only first liens. It’s very difficult to get good data about second liens on a property.

    So if you’ve read that roughly 25% of all homes with a mortgage are now underwater, forget that number. If you include all second liens, It could easily be 50%. This means that in many of those major metros that have experienced the worst price collapse, more than 50% of all mortgaged properties may be seriously underwater.

    The Florida Collapse: Is This Where We Are Heading?

    Nowhere is the impact of the collapse in home prices more evident than in Florida. The three counties with the highest percentage of first liens either seriously delinquent or in pre-foreclosure (default) are all located in Florida. According to CoreLogic, the worst county is Miami-Dade with an incredible 25% of all mortgages in serious distress and headed for either foreclosure or short sale.

    An article posted on the Huffington Post in mid-January 2011 describes the Florida “mortgage meltdown” in grim detail. Written by Floridian Mark Sunshine, it begins by pointing out that 50% of all the residential mortgages currently sitting in private, non-GSE mortgage-backed securities (MBS) were more than 60 days delinquent — either seriously delinquent, in default, bankruptcy, or already foreclosed by the bank. I checked his source — the American Securitization Forum — and the percentage was correct.

    The author then goes on to discuss a strategic default situation among his friends in Florida. One of them had purchased a condo in early 2007 for $300,000. By mid-2010, it had plunged in value to less than $100,000 and he decided to stop paying the mortgage. When he expressed his concerns about the possible consequences to his buddies — including an attorney, an accountant, and a doctor — all expressed the same advice to him. They told him to walk away from the mortgage, save his money, and prepare to move to a rental unit. To them, it seemed like a no-brainer.

    The author was a little surprised that no one thought there was anything wrong with strategically defaulting. The attorney actually suggested that the defaulter file for bankruptcy to prevent the bank from going after a deficiency judgment for the remaining loan balance after the repossessed property was sold.

    The conclusion expressed by the author has far-reaching implications. As he saw it, “More and more Floridians who pay their mortgage feel like chumps compared to defaulters; they turn over their disposable income to the bank and know it will take most of their lifetimes to recover.”

    As prices slide to new lows in metro after metro, will this attitude toward defaulting spread from Florida to more and more of the nation? A May 2010 Money Magazine survey asked readers if they would ever consider walking away from their mortgage. The results were sobering indeed:

    • Never: 42%
    • Only if I had to: 38%
    • Yes: 16%
    • Already have: 4%

    In late January of this year, a report on strategic defaults issued by the Nevada Association of Realtors seemed to confirm the findings of the two studies I’ve discussed. The telephone survey interviewed 1,000 Nevada homeowners. One question asked was this: “Some homeowners in Nevada have chosen to undergo a ‘strategic default’ and stop making mortgage payments despite having the ability to make the payments. Some refer to this as ‘walking away from a mortgage.’ Would you describe your current or recent situation as a ‘strategic default?’”

    Of those surveyed, 23% said they would classify their own situation as a strategic default. Many of those surveyed said that trusted confidants had advised them that strategic default was their best option. One typical response was that the loan “was so upside down it would never have been okay.”

    What seems fairly clear from this Nevada survey and the two reports I’ve reviewed is that as home values continue to decline and loan-to-value (LTV) ratios rise, the number of homeowners choosing to walk away from their mortgage obligation will relentlessly grow. That means growing trouble for nearly all major housing markets around the country.

    This post originally appeared at Minyanville.

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/strategic-defaults-revisited-it-could-get-very-ugly-2011-4#ixzz1KnI0npxu

    Related Articles

  • Broker Compensation Rule Delay Not Good for Business, by Michael Dolan, Broker Pro Mortgage


    Some mortgage brokers were happy Friday that a law suit against a Federal Reserve rule, scheduled to take effect that day, had been stayed 5 days. I wasn’t. The rule controlled how to price mortgages. Here’s what I posted on a major mortgage broker discussion site (It got noticed):

    This stay is terrible news for our industry because it further delays necessary clean up. I agree the new compensation rule itself is counterproductive and redundant.

    But that’s not our biggest problem. The first problem is that exploitive and greedy hiring practices caused the need for government intervention. Too many broker companies treat employed LOs [Loan Originators] like crap: no training, no decent pay schedule. This exploitation in turn pressured LOs into decisions that were not in the interest of homeowners.

    Second, our industry representation is ineffective and even embarrassing. Suing is the tactic of those who do not understand how the system works and cannot produce effective compromise. Industry leaders have responded like children who have lost a candy bar. They go to Washington, DC and are not professional enough to wear a suit and tie. They don’t even realize they are announcing to the world they are untutored rubes. Then we hear nutty over-statements like “we have the best lawyers in the country.” It wasn’t until about the last month they realized that complaining about their jobs is bad politics. So – too late – they began to contend the new compensation rule was bad for homeowners but never really made a compelling argument.

    Today’s result: confusion. You know what, the rule is bad. But it’s not that tough to figure out. “Oh my God! How can an industry survive if you have to pay branch managers a salary?” Complaining about how the rule hurts your business makes you seem greedy and self centered. Look around. Who agrees with industry groups? Who is with us? Nobody!

    After five losing seasons, you fire the coach. The current professional organizations and the people running them need to step aside and make way for educated professionals who can work with regulators, build coalitions, and explain what we are doing for homeowners.

    Michael Dolan
    BrokerPro Mortgage, LLC
    1001 SW 5th Ave #1100
    Portland, OR 97204

    503-895-5428 (NEW)

    425-998-0191
    800-843-9010
    mobile: 503-287-4876

    http://www.BrokerProMortgage.com

    License # 114972

    Related Articles

  • Wells Fargo Top Mortgage Lender for the Fourth Consecutive Quarter, Thetruthaboutmortgage.com


    Wells Fargo's corporate headquarters in San Fr...
    Image via Wikipedia

    Wells Fargo was the top residential mortgage lender for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to MortgageStats.com.

    The San Francisco-based bank and mortgage lender grabbed nearly a quarter (23.13 percent) of total market share with $102.8 billion in loan origination volume during the third quarter.

    The company bested its year-ago total of $97.9 billion and crushed the $83 billion originated in the second quarter, thanks in part to the record low mortgage rates on offer, which sparkedrefinance demand.

    Bank of America came in a distant second with $74 billion and 16.66 percent market share – Chase originated about half of that, with $42.7 billion and 9.60 percent market share.

    Their volume was nearly identical to the volume seen a quarter earlier, but 25 percent lower than that seen a year ago.

    Rounding out the top five were CitiMortgage and Ally Bank/Residential Capital (GMAC) with $20.3 billion and $20.2 billion, respectively.

    The pair saw market share of just over nine percent combined.

    So the five largest mortgage lenders accounted for nearly 60 percent of all loan origination volume.

    Quicken Loans was the biggest gainer in the top 10, with an 88 percent increase seen from the third quarter of 2009.

    SunTrust Bank was the biggest loser year-over-year, chalking a 34 percent decline.

    Take a look at the top 10 mortgage lenders in the third quarter of 2010:

     

    Related Articles

  • Multnomahforeclosures.com: Updated Notice Of Default Lists


    Multnomah County Courthouse in Portland, Orego...
    Image via Wikipedia

    Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back nearly 3 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com idocuments the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st century. Over 50,000 Notice of default Listings

    All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.

    Multnomah County Foreclosures

    http://multnomahforeclosures.com

    Stewart Group Realty Inc.

    Related Articles

  • Tens of thousands lose stimulus-subsidized jobs, Tami Luhby, Money.cnn.com


    Tens of thousands of low-income workers lost their jobs Thursday as a stimulus-subsidized employment program came to an end.

    About a quarter of a million people in 37 states were placed in short-term jobs thanks to a $5 billion boost to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States used about $1 billion to provide subsidized employment, with the remaining funds going to cash grants, food programs, housing assistance and other aid.

    About half the jobs were summer employment for youth and the rest were for disadvantaged parents. Each state configured its initiative differently. Some covered all the workers’ wages for a few months, while others paid for a portion of their salary.

    With the program expiring, many of the adults have been told not to report to work anymore. And it won’t be easy for them to find a new position at time when the unemployment rate continues to hover at 9.6%

    “They are just joining the millions of other people looking for permanent work,” said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, an advocacy group known as CLASP.

    The TANF jobs initiative was one of several stimulus initiatives that ended Thursday. Also running out are a $2 billion subsidized child care program and a $2.1 billion boost for Head Start, an early learning program for needy children.

    Limping along

    State officials and advocacy groups have been lobbying Congress to extend the jobs program and other Recovery Act measures, but federal lawmakers have shown little appetite to do so.

    A handful of states will continue to operate the programs for another few months, but most of those will be downsized considerably.

    Illinois announced earlier this week that it will continue the program with state funds for up to two months in hopes that Congress will provide more money for it. The state has placed more than 26,000 workers at more than 5,000 private, non-profit and government employers.

    “The best way to make our economy stronger is to put people to work,” said Gov. Pat Quinn. “It is good for families, small business owners and businesses.”

    The TANF jobs program is among the few stimulus initiatives that have been embraced by Republican governors. Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, who headed the Republican National Committee in the mid-1990s, praised the effort.

    The “program will provide much-needed aid during this recession by enabling businesses to hire new workers, thus enhancing the economic engines of our local communities,” Barbour said when the initiative launched last year.

    South Carolina, Texas and Minnesota — all headed by Republican governors — plan to continue their programs either in a smaller form or for a few months, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

  • Zoning puts out Portland industrial businesses by, Nick Bjork, Daily Journal of Commerce


    Hanset Stainless, a steel fabricating business along the Columbia Slough in east Portland, has become an expert at adapting to survive. In the past few decades the company has shifted from manufacturing parts for restaurant equipment to manufacturing parts for electronic equipment. Now the company produces parts for medical supplies and architectural interiors.

    But Hanset Stainless’ owners worry the company’s adaptability could be in jeopardy because of a city plan to update environmental zones near Portland International Airport. Owners of businesses and properties in the area say they are concerned that the zoning changes being proposed would prohibit future expansions or development along the slough, which could push businesses not just out of the area but out of the city.

    “As we’ve changed and adapted, we’ve had to improve our technology, as well as expand and retrofit our shop,” said Luke Hanset, a project manager and an estimator with the company. “All of these changes required expansions to our building, and if we needed to shift again we wouldn’t be able to with this new zoning.”

    While companies like Hanset Stainless consider the slough to be one of the last sanctuaries for industrial business in Portland, the city sees the slough as an environmental gem that needs to be protected, said Jay Sugnet, a project manager with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

    Everything in the area that is at least 50 feet from the bank, including businesses like Hanset Stainless, is considered is to be in a conservation zone. If proposed zoning were to be approved by City Council, the area would become a protection zone.

    In a conservation zone, future development, improvements or expansions are allowed if the property owner also performs mitigative or restorative work worth 5 percent of the cost of the work. But in a protection zone, all three are strictly prohibited.

    That change could place Hanset Stainless in a precarious business position. The company’s compressor, which is essential for vital manufacturing equipment, sits within the proposed protection zone. Eventually, the compressor will need to be replaced, but a switch to a new compressor won’t be allowed in an area designated as a protection zone.

    “We would have to reroute and retrofit our entire building if the compressor went out because we wouldn’t be allowed to put a new one where it currently sits,” Hanset said.

    Hanset Stainless, however, isn’t the only business in the area that would be affected by the new zoning. The district would include 5,686 acres that sit between the Columbia River, the Columbia Slough, Northeast 13th Street and Interstate 205. The area has 354 industrial-zoned properties in use and approximately 260 acres of industrial-zoned, undeveloped properties – 37 percent of the city’s industrial land.

    “This is incredibly important to us,” said Corky Collier, executive director of the Columbia Corridor Association, a group of industrial professionals representing 28 square miles of industrial property, much of which is along the slough. “Not only do the changes in zoning devalue the undeveloped industrial land in the area, (but) it makes it nearly impossible to expand or improve the facilities currently in operation, most of which are out of date already.

    “This is a great area to redevelop, something the city likes to see happen with other commercial buildings around town. If the zoning is changed, it’s going to push industrial businesses away from the city, toward greenfield sites at the edge of the urban growth boundary.”

    Mark Childs, a senior vice president with Capacity Commercial, is working with a potential buyer on a manufacturing property he is brokering in the area. Fifty feet may not seem like much, Child said, but almost every manufacturing business in the area has a paved parking lot in the zone. Improvements would not be allowed if it became a protection zone.

    “This deal, a $1 million to $2 million deal, will be dead in the water if this passes,” Childs said. “The building is a little outdated and no matter who moves in, they will need to make improvements, if not expand the building.

    “If property A is in the city but has a 4-inch-thick binder about what can and can’t happen on it, and property B is out of the city but doesn’t have any binder, no one is even going to look at property A. This is going to push businesses out of the city.”

    The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and the Port of Portland will be bringing the proposed zoning changes to the Planning Commission for a hearing on Aug. 24. If the Planning Commission makes a recommendation, it will go in front of City Council to be passed as an ordinance. Staff is targeting a council meeting sometime in October.

    “We understand that this could be a heavy hammer, and we hope to work with these industry groups, but this corridor is already constrained,” Sugnet said. “There aren’t many places in the city with as much wildlife, and we need to do something to protect that.”

    While Hanset agrees that both businesses and the city should be good stewards of the environment, he doesn’t agree with the path the city is taking.

    “We don’t mind mitigating our impact, but we need to be able to grow to afford it,” he said. “If the city is going to come on our private property and regulate, then (it) needs to compensate us for it because this is going to really hurt our resale value.”

    Daily Journal of Commerce

    Zoning puts out Portland industrial businesses