HUD Lines

E-Briefs From the Richmond Office of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH…IT'S NOT AN OPTION. IT’S THE LAW...
Join the Virginia Fair Housing Office, H.O.M.E., HUD and VHDA at the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act on April 30, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm at The Virginia Historical Society. Register by April 23rd online or call (804) 367-8530.
$10 registration fee includes lunch. CEUs available for Realtors.

IF IT'S SPRING...
Can SuperNOFA be far behind? General Section of SuperNOFA '08, published in the March 19 Federal Register, contains important info for all HUD applicants. AND...be sure you're ready to e-compete this year by registering or updating with grants.gov and the Central Contractor Registration.

TEMPORARY INCREASE IN FHA MORTGAGE LIMITS...
FHA Mortgage limits have been temporarily increased as of March 6 (until December 31, 2008) to allow more households to finance new purchases or refinance into safe and secure FHA loans – see Mortgagee Letter 2008-06 - for current (temporary) mortgage limits.

PRESERVE AMERICA...
Calling all Virginia Communities - Apply for your Preserve America designation – "Explore and Enjoy Our Heritage".

BRIEF BRIEFS TO LEARN FROM...
Virginia Association of Housing Counselors' Annual Certification & Conference "Empowering Ourselves to Empower Others" - Virginia Beach May 3-7 ... Southside Virginia Association of Realtors "Fair Housing Seminar" April 10th, 9:30 am designed to satisfy license renewal requirement … Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors "Fair Housing with JC Cancelleri" April 16, 1:00 pm – register online or call (757) 599-5222 ... Disaster Damage Assessment Training workshops from VDEM - Henrico County (April 1) and Salem (April 3) registration closed for these but space still available - contact Larry.Braja@vdem.virginia.gov - For Newport News (April 21) and Fairfax (April 23), see VDEM Calendar by April 10 ... Association for Preservation of Virginia Antiquities & Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources "What it Means to be in a Historic District" Workshop, April 4, 2:00 - 5:30 pm at The John Baird House, Petersburg – Contact Terry Graham, (804) 648-1889 ext. 314 or tgraham@apva.org... Virginia Conference on Volunteerism & Community Service, April 23-25, Virginia Beach ... "GRANTWRITING & MORE" workshop June 24, 25 & 26 in Culpeper- pre-registration required, contact anne.davis@hud.gov or (800) 842-2610 ext. 4802.

IT'S EASY BEING GREEN...
Habitat Charlottesville "Green Matters" Workshop series April 9 – call (434) 293-6331 for info ... Blue Ridge Home Builders Association (BRHBA) EarthCraft® Tour, Charlottesville - April 19 & 20 and April 26 & 27 ... Chesapeake, LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for New Construction, Technical Review Workshop April 10 ... Eastern Virginia Energy Conservation Conference 2008, hosted by ODU, Norfolk, May 14-15 - (757) 683-5505 ... LEED for Homes Webinar Series: The Delivery Process , April 9, 2:00 - 3:00 pm, ... "Go Green Virginia" meetings hosted by Virginia Municipal League in Virginia Beach (April 15), Fairfax (April 17), Abingdon (April 22) and Lynchburg (April 29) 8:30 am-3:00 pm ... "Houses that Work" Training – Charlottesville, April 11 – contact EEBA at (952) 881-1098 or nancy@eeba.org or dona@eeba.org.

BRIEF BRIEFS TO CHEER FOR...
Bristol & Roanoke RHAs and Pleasant View Tenants Association (Danville) received funding under ROSS (Resident Opportunities & Self Sufficiency) program… National Weather Service recognizes Arlington, Chesterfield & Page counties and City of Portsmouth as "StormReady" ... PATHWAYS Open House & Dedication, April 6, 3:00 pm, 1200 Washington Street, Petersburg… Richmond/Westmoreland County Habitat for Humanity completed & dedicated 10th home, with #11 under construction… Peninsula Habitat for Humanity dedicated 100th home on March 31st…Winchester/Frederick County Habitat for Humanity received deeds to 5 lots for new homes…Bristol RHA rented first 3 apartments in Sapling Grove mixed finance project…DHCD awards "Milestone Achievements" to Virginia Main Street Communities for Volunteerism (12) and Private Investment (11) – see www.dhcd.virginia.gov/ for link to full announcement ... The Fuller Center for Housing in Suffolk welcoming Millard Fuller, Founder of Habitat for Humanity, as guest speaker at a Leadership Prayer Breakfast on May 1 – contact buildingsuffolk@aol.com ... Rose Williams, Charlottesville advocate for people with disabilities, will receive the Virginia Board for People With Disabilities 2007 Leadership Award on April 1.

BRIEF BRIEFS TO LOOK INTO...
Virginia Housing Development Authority announces 7th round of competitive SPARC program – contact Toni Ostrowski at (804) 343-5982 or toni.ostrowski@vhda.com ... Affordable Housing Finance Magazine is soliciting entries for its "Readers' Choice Awards" in 10 categories – contact Donna Kimura at dkimura@hanleywood.com ... Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta "How to Apply" workshops for Affordable Housing Program – contact Ramona Chapman for info ... Virginia Municipal League accepting entries for Achievement Awards until June 2 ... First window for applications to USDA/Rural Development Renewable Energy Grants closing on April 15.

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