Rep. Dennis Cardoza doesn’t think that Housing and Urban Development Department Secretary Shaun Donovan has any right to tout the administration’s successes at preventing home foreclosures in California.
The California Democrat has fired off a heated letter to President Barack Obama after reading an op-ed piece from Donovan in the Fresno Bee, highlighting the falling foreclosure rate in California’s Central Valley as evidence that HUD’s efforts to tackle the housing crisis are yielding results.
“I’m incredibly disappointed in the lack of professionalism and lack of understanding shown by this agency. They don’t get it,” Cardoza told POLITICO.
“For him to try to convince my folks, who are suffering on a daily basis, that he’s right because he’s read some statistics in Washington when he doesn’t get it, it’s really just absurd,” Cardoza continued.
At the heart of the controversy is a debate over different readings of the data compiled by RealtyTrac, an independent firm that tracks foreclosure filings. Donovan points to evidence that foreclosure rates have fallen 21 percent in Stockton and 35 percent in Merced in the first six months of the year, compared with last year.
“This improvement is the result of, in large part, the array of targeted tools the Obama administration has provided to communities in this region, to the state and to homeowners to begin stabilizing the housing market,” Donovan wrote.
But three cities in Cardoza’s district — Modesto, Merced and Stockton – have ranked among the top 10 in the country for foreclosures. And the congressman says that data doesn’t acknowledge the increase in loan payment delinquencies, which could signal more foreclosures ahead.
“These programs simply are not working, and I am deeply troubled by HUD’s lack of understanding of the foreclosure crisis,” Cardoza wrote. “Your leadership on this issue is needed more than ever.” - Politico Story
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