Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure

The Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure is a one-stop shop designed to educate Americans about the most current housing information and resources the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has to offer. The site has a number of helpful resources particularly important for Americans at risk for losing their homes.

Local Apartment Market Headed for a Slowdown

The apartment market in Central Texas is turning in renters’ favor, a new report said.

And it looks like the trend will hold for the foreseeable future as a wave of new complexes comes online, further reducing occupancy rates, the report said.

The region’s apartments were 91.4 percent occupied in the third quarter, down from 94.1 percent in the year-ago quarter and 91.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to Austin Investor Interests LLC, which tracks the market.

Although the drop from the previous quarter wasn’t big, it came in what is typically the strongest time of the year, when students move into campus-area apartments. It was only the second time in 15 years that occupancy has declined in the third quarter, the report said.

The average rent was $821 a month, flat from the previous quarter. Two experts are forecasting rents to decline 3 to 5 percent during the next 12 months.

More…

Newspapers Cited for Discriminatory Housing Ads

A federally funded fair housing enforcement effort by the Austin Tenants’ Council has riled officials of several small Central Texas newspapers, who say the council is unfairly targeting them and using the settlements to fund the nonprofit organization.

At least eight papers, most of them weeklies, have been cited by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as violating the Fair Housing Act by publishing classified ads that discriminate against potential renters. The complaints were initiated by the tenants’ council as part of a grant program funded by HUD.

To read more in the Austin American Statesman, click here.

To read more in the Houston Chronicle, click here.

Recycling Options at Large Apartment Complexes

What are your recycling options if you live in an apartment complex? A City of Austin ordinance requires complexes with at least 100 units to provide recycling of at least four of these:

• Aluminum, tin, and steel cans
• Glass bottles
• Plastic bottles labeled one and two
• Newspaper
• Corrugated cardboard
• Kraft paper bags
• Home office paper or junk mail

Call 311 to report an apartment complex that is not complying with the ordinance.

Hurricane Ike and Your Electric Bill

Estimated Bills
The Public Utility Commission of Texas has oversight of the billing process of many electric companies in the areas hit by Hurricane Ike. Texans who choose their electric provider and have problems with their bill are advised to file a complaint with the PUC. If the amount of the bill is in dispute, the amount in dispute does not have to be paid until the complaint is resolved.

Most electric bills in hurricane-damaged areas are being estimated. The estimate is supposed to include only the power that you used up until the time of the storm. If you believe your bill is incorrect, you can file a complaint by e-mail at customer@puc.state.tx.us. Provide the address, account number, short explanation of the problem, and contact information. You can also call toll free 1-888-782-8477. Expect to leave a message and wait for a return call.

The PUC has no jurisdiction over customers of city-owned utilities and electric cooperatives. Good places to start filing a complaint are the mayor’s office and the president of the board of directors of the electric cooperative.

October 8, 2008 Public Utility Commission of Texas Emergency Order
The PUC Commissioners adopted a second emergency order on October 8. The order suspends rules for residential disconnection of service for nonpayment until October 24. Security deposit cannot be charged until October 24. Disconnection for nonpayment and security deposit requirements may resume on October 25. People in Galveston and the near east and the northeast side of Houston are protected by the order. Other provisions of the order regarding estimated bills, meter testing, and suspension of priority reconnect fees are in effect until November 6.

The Houston zip codes included in the order are: 77012, 77016, 77017, 77022, 77023, 77028, 77029, 77033, 77050, 77051, 77061, 77067, 77078, 77087, 77093, 77336, 77539, 77547, and 77562.

The PUC project number is 36150.

Prepared by: Carol Biedrzycki, Texas Ratepayers’ Organization to Save Energy, 815 Brazos St., Suite 1100, Austin, Texas 78701, Oct. 10, 2008.

Was It Retaliation?

Is landlord booting out tenant because of a deck dispute, asks John Keslo in the Austin American Statesman.

Section 92.331 of the Texas Property Code prohibits retaliation by a landlord because the tenant:

1. Exercises or attempts to exercise against a landlord a right or remedy granted to the tenant by lease, municipal ordinance, or federal or state statute;
2. Gives a landlord a notice to repair or exercise a remedy under this chapter; or
3. Complains to a governmental entity responsible for enforcing building or housing codes, a public utility, or a civic or nonprofit agency.

The landlord may not, within six months after the date of the tenant’s action, retaliate against the tenant by:

1. Filing an eviction proceeding, except for the grounds stated by Section 92.332;
2. Depriving the tenant of the use of the premises, except for reasons authorized by law;
3. Decreasing services to the tenant;
4. Increasing the tenant’s rent or terminating the tenant’s lease;  or
5. Engaging in a course of conduct that materially interferes with the tenant’s rights under the tenant’s lease.

Landlords: List Vacant Units on HUD’s National Housing Locator System

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is appealing to landlords in Texas and Louisiana to list their vacant properties on HUD’s National Housing Locator System (NHLS). Working with federal and private housing databases, HUD uses this web-based system to offer thousands of displaced families referrals to longer term housing. More…

Landlords and property owners can obtain advice and assistance on how to add available units to the National Housing Locator by calling (703) 667-9420 x114.