The Colorado Division of Housing in the News
The Colorado Division of Housing released the results of the summer Statewide Homeless Count on December 13, 2006. The results were carried by the following local media.
December 18
"Homelessness an issue in Montrose" The Montrose Daily Press
"
Survey: Nearly 12,000 homeless in state" The Glenwood Springs Post Independent
December 15, 2006
“ Colorado Homeless Population Soars” Fox 31 News
“ Colorado homeless population reaches 12000” T he Summit Daily News
“Study counts people without homes” The Cortez Journal
December 14, 2006
“Homeless count: 12,000 in Colorado” The Denver Post
“Homeless in state: 11,890” The Rocky Mountain News
“More homeless are families with children” The Grand Junction Free Press
“More women and children homeless” The Daily Camera
“Report: At least 12,000 homeless in Colorado” 9 News
“State counts its homeless” The Gazette
“Statewide count finds more than 11,000 homeless people” T he Coloradoan
Glenwood Springs Independent
December 7, 2006
“GarCo Foreclosure Rate Declines”
Chief Deputy Public Trustee Bob Slade told a gathering of the Western Chapter of the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association…
Homeowners on the West Slope are in a better position than their neighbors on the Front Range when it comes to the housing market said Colorado Division of Housing spokesman…
November 27-December 1, 2006
The Colorado Division of Housing Released the Third Quarter 2006 Statewide Multifamily Vacancy Survey. The survey covers local vacancy and rent levels for 22 areas of the state and was covered by the following print media:
- The Colorado Springs Gazette, November 28
Also KOAA in Colorado Springs - The Rocky Mountain News, December 1
- The Denver Post, December 1
- The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, December 1
- The Loveland Reporter-Herald, December 1
- The Aspen Times, December 1
- The Greeley Tribune, December 1
- The Fort Collins Coloradoan, December 2
- The Pueblo Chieftain, December 2
Brighton Standard Blade
November 21, 2006
“House keeping in Adams County: Forum focuses on Foreclosure”
Kathi Williams, CDH director, presented on Division of Housing services to an audience of Brighton-area local government officials and real estate professionals.
Fox News Channel
November 13, 2006 – FoxNews carried a short piece on foreclosures in Colorado featuring members of the Division of Housing’s Foreclosure Prevention Task Force. Alicia Acuña reported.
Durango Herald
“Demand pushes city rents higher”
November 1, 2006
Apartment rents and demand are up in Durango as more residents wait for local housing prices to deflate a bit. Ninety-seven percent of all rental housing is full in Durango, an increase of 1.2 percent compared with a year ago, according to early numbers released by the Colorado Division of Housing.
Rocky Mountain News
“Foreclosures lead to auction”
Once-common event resurfaces as state's rate again tops U.S.
October 31, 2006
After declining almost 13 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter, Colorado foreclosure activity jumped 24 percent from the second to the third quarter, with 14,374 properties entering some stage of foreclosure - the eighth-highest foreclosure total in the nation.
Some local experts - including Kathi Williams, executive director of the Colorado Division of Housing, and Chris Holbert, president of Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association - question whether RealtyTrac's numbers are accurate.
Durango Herald
“Housing group granted $2.7M”
November 2, 2006
Housing Solutions also manages Casa de Los Arcos, a 16-unit facility in Pagosa Springs. The proposed facility would more than double affordable housing for seniors in Pagosa Springs, a town with an estimated population of 1,628, located 60 miles east of Durango.
It also would help alleviate a 19-person waiting list to live at Casa de Los Arcos. People can wait on the list for years, Welty said.
Construction will not start for at least a year, Welty said. Housing Solutions plans to approach the Colorado Division of Housing and local groups for additional funding, she said.
Fort Collins Weekly
“Carpe Diem”
Oct 25, 2006
While the economy over the past decade has seen boom-and-bust cycles, it’s hard to refute that the cost of living has steadily increased over that time. According to the Colorado Division of Housing, rental prices have increased an average of 8.5 percent a year since 1990, with an average rental costing $667 a month, or $8,000 a year.
Denver Post
“Metro apartment vacancies show a drop, while rental rates are up”
By Margaret Jackson
Apartment vacancies dipped while rental rates increased during the third quarter, according to statistics released Thursday.
The vacancy rate for metro Denver dropped to 6.7 percent, compared with 6.9 percent during the previous quarter, according to the Apartment Vacancy and Rent Survey.
The average rental rate increased 2.6 percent to $865.76 for the third quarter.
"The rental increases are mostly on the upper end," said Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing.
Rocky Mountain News
“Apartment vacancy rate hits 5-year low”
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News
October 27, 2006
The last time the vacancy was lower was in the second quarter of 2001, when the vacancy rate stood at 5.7 percent. After the terrorist attacks and the slump in the local economy, vacancies began to rise, peaking at 13.1 percent in the first quarter of 2003.
In the third quarter of 2005, the vacancy rate stood at 8 percent. And in the second quarter of this year, the vacancy rate was 6.9 percent.
"Overall, the market is improving at a steady pace," Von Stroh said. "But I was still expecting that the vacancy rate this quarter would be more like 6.2 percent or 6.3 percent."
Or as Kathi Williams, executive director of the Colorado Division of Housing, quipped, "We expected continued steady improvement, but not so much steady and more improvement."
October 23-24, 2006 – Foreclosure Hotline Update
Greeley Tribune
“Foreclosure Hotline Already a Frequent Dial”
Denver Post
“Foreclosure hotline hums; 3,000 calls in first 2 weeks”
The Denver Business Journal
“Foreclosure hotline busy with calls”
Rocky Mountain News
“Foreclosure Hotline Hopping”
Pueblo Chieftain
“State foreclosure hotline among the nation's busiest”
CBS News4
“Foreclosure Hotline Fields 3,000 Calls In 2 Weeks”
Debt Servicing News - DSNews.com
“Colorado Foreclosure Hotline Swamped with Calls”
The recently launched Colorado foreclosure hotline is being flooded with calls.
The hotline has received more than 3,000 calls since launching two weeks ago. In the first 24 hours after it launched, the hotline, 1-877-601-HOPE, received more than 1,300 calls, and calls continue pouring in. Foreclosure prevention counselors have worked overtime to keep up with the volume.
October 10-12, 2006 - Foreclosure Hotline Launch
NBC – 9 News, Denver
October 12
“Colorado Launches Foreclosure Hotline”
Colorado has a new hotline, 1-877-601-HOPE, to help people going through foreclosure. State agencies, the Colorado Association of REALTORS, and JP Morgan Chase are helping to pay for it.
CBS Channel 11 News, Colorado Springs/Pueblo
October 12
“Foreclosure Hotline”
Colorado has a new hotline, 1-877-601-HOPE, to help people going through foreclosure. State agencies, the Colorado Association of REALTORS, and JP Morgan Chase are helping to pay for it.
ABC 7 News, Denver
“Colorado Launches Foreclosure Hotline”
The phone number is 1-877-601-HOPE, to help people going through foreclosure. State agencies, the Colorado Association of REALTORS, and JP Morgan Chase are helping to pay for it.
CBS4 Denver
“New Hotline Helps Families Facing Foreclosure”
Erika Lewis Reporting.
The Denver Post
“Colo. Launches foreclosure help line”
Rocky Mountain News
“Foreclosure Hotline offers HOPE”
Greeley Tribune
“Hotline offered to divert continued foreclosures”
Debt Servicing News – DSNews.com
“Colorado Foreclosure Hotline Launches”
It's official. Colorado's new statewide foreclosure prevention hotline is open for business.
The hotline -- 1-877-601-HOPE (4673) -- was launched Tuesday morning. At least 65 housing counselors across Colorado are now taking calls, organizers say, along with some help from call centers based in other states. The aim of the hotline is to connect troubled Colorado borrowers with housing counselors in their area, so callers are instructed to enter their zip code and are then directed to the counselor nearest to their city.
Associated Press
“State to start hot line for homeowners with payment problems”
September 20, 2006
Colorado plans to open a counseling hot line next month to help residents who are trying to keep up with mortgage payments and prevent houses from falling into foreclosure.
Representatives from 30 nonprofit agencies that specialize in housing advice will staff the hot line, which is being announced amid a growing problem with foreclosures. Two online companies that monitor the housing industry ranked Colorado first in the nation for foreclosures in August.
Hot line counselors will offer assistance with financing and work with lenders to help homeowners keep their homes.
''The big problem we have and lenders have is that once a person gets behind on their mortgage, they stop taking calls from their lender and they don't answer the phone anymore and then they move out in the middle of the night,'' Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing said.
The state will open the hot line next month but the start date and the telephone number have yet to be announced.
The state has allocated $250,000 to start the hot line and will get contributions of $30,000 from the Colorado Association of Realtors and $5,000 from JP Morgan Chase.
The Denver Post
“Help for struggling homeowners”
September 20, 2006
Colorado, which leads the nation in foreclosures, will soon launch a hotline to provide struggling homeowners with valuable help.
Colorado will launch a hotline next month to connect struggling homeowners with counselors who can help them avoid foreclosure.
The new service comes amid a foreclosure epidemic in Colorado. The state has led the nation in mortgage-default rates for six months, according to industry monitor RealtyTrac. In August, one of every 301 households in Colorado were in foreclosure.
Thirty nonprofit housing counseling agencies across the state will participate in the hotline. Their counselors help homeowners assess their finances and negotiate with lenders to keep their houses. The state is trying to get lenders to help fund the hotline and to work closely with the counselors