Homeworks

1

Need for HousiNg studies Has Never beeN greater

Spring 2010

With the housing crisis in the news almost daily, interest in Housing Studies continues to increase. The need for research-based, theoretically grounded information to develop sustainable housing and effective housing policy has never been greater.

A broad range of courses in our curriculum prepares students for a lifelong career addressing complex issues, such as revisions in housing regulations and programs to help families finance their home. Courses in the program help students understand

individuals and families—how they define their needs for housing and evaluate housing; how communities assess the quality of housing and plan for development; and how the quality of housing affects the health and safety of its inhabitants.

Working together, faculty and students examine housing in a variety of contexts, locally and globally, as well as urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods. We understand housing as shelter, as home, and as an important component of financial wellbeing, which influences policy, research, and quality of life.

Studying housing in the Twin Cities provides a wealth of opportunities for faculty and students to interact with a variety of professionals. Faculty include local examples of housing problems and solutions in class discussions; local housing professionals engage with students by guest lecturing in the classroom, hosting field trips, and serving as mentors. Several courses include service- or community-based learning so students get experience working in the field.

The Housing Studies program is close-knit. Small, interactive classes are taught by full-time professors. Currently, faculty are involved a variety of projects addressing current housing issues including the effects of predatory lending and foreclosure, the housing and community needs of aging adults, homeownership programs, environmental health, and innovations in the design of affordable housing. Faculty often involve students in their research and community engagement projects. A variety of student organizations and activities provide opportunities to interact with peers, professors, and professionals.

HouSing StudieSPeoPle, Place, Policy

by Marilyn (Lyn) Bruin, program director

Welcome to Homeworks, a newsletter to bring you up to date on the Housing Studies program. You’ll get a great view of what we are all about—now! Please send your e-mail address to dhainfo@umn.edu for future issues!

MarilyN bruiN

HousiNg studies sPriNg 2010 2

Q & a witH Jeff cruMP

Q Jeff, please bring us up to date on the housing

foreclosure crisis.

A: We are in a temporary lull as foreclosures on poorly written

subprime loans are declining. But many “Alt A” loans (loans made without documents verifying income and interest-only loans) are going bad. Recession impacts are still with us, with loss of jobs (85,000 nationally in December 2009), high unemployment rates, and the deflation of the housing bubble that sticks homeowners with homes worth substantially less than their mortgages. We could see 7 million new foreclosures in the next three to four years.

Q What would you suggest be done to ease the situation for

homeowners at risk?

A: Reduce the principal on home loans to reflect the reality that the

home is worth substantially less than when it was purchased. Bankruptcy laws also need to be rewritten, to allow writing down of the principal amount. The Obama administration’s anti-foreclosure program has fallen short because it focuses on reducing monthly payments. The household may be vulnerable to foreclosure again in six months, still strapped to an inflated home value.

A longer-term solution is to pass federal protective legislation that curbs predatory mortgage lending practices and prescribes criminal penalties for those practices. Legislation enacted in Minnesota in 2007 could be a model. (See sidebar.)

Q How else has the foreclosure crisis impacted vulnerable

populations?

A: In low-income, minority neighborhoods like North

Minneapolis, 60-70 percent of foreclosures are of investor properties, many owned by speculators. Unsuspecting rental tenants are suddenly evicted after long-lasting foreclosure proceedings of which they were unaware. Before that final step of foreclosure, the speculator continues to collect rent, keeps the security deposit, neglects the property, and in the end, walks away. The abandoned property lowers the value of other homes in the neighborhood and becomes a target for materials stripping and arson.

Q Which brings us to…why is Housing Studies an important

major going forward?

A: It will take many years to repair the damage done to the housing

market in the past decade. Housing Studies majors will be well prepared to play a vital role. Although layoffs have occurred in many industries, in the last two years banks have hired 17,000 people to rewrite mortgages. Other possible careers include property management, foreclosure prevention counseling, real estate, construction project management, and work with public housing authorities.

by Kathleen Campbell

Jeff cruMP

DID YOU kNOW?⊲ One-third of U.S. mortgage holders

owe more on their house than the house is worth (termed being “under water”).

⊲ Prior to two anti-predatory lending bills passed by the Minnesota State Legislature in 2007, lenders were not required to verify the borrower’s ability to repay the mortgage and were not prohibited from making false or misleading statements. Crump was a key adviser to the legislative committee that got these bills passed.

⊲ Crump’s ongoing research (2003-present) analyzing patterns of subprime lending and foreclosure in the Twin Cities reveals that both have been disproportionately concentrated in minority neighborhoods. Even holding income constant, minorities were substantially more likely to receive a subprime loan than whites.

HOUSINg STUDIES ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JEFF CRUMP

SHARED HIS THOUgHTS ON THE MORTgAgE FORECLOSURE

CRISIS AND THE ONgOINg IMPORTANCE OF THE HOUSINg

STUDIES MAJOR IN A CHALLENgINg WORLD.

HousiNg studies sPriNg 2010 3

The Housing Studies program is focused on creating privately-funded scholarships to help students meet the rising costs of higher education. The University is offering a rare opportunity to double the impact of gifts through the Promise of Tomorrow Scholarship drive. gifts of $25,000 or more are used to create an endowment fund

at the University of Minnesota Foundation and the payout from the fund is matched by the University thereby doubling the impact of the gift. A group of retail merchandising alumni is currently meeting to lay a plan for developing at least one of these matching scholarships. Alumni and friends can help by making gifts directed to scholarships

SCHOLARSHIPS MAkE A DIFFERENCEfor retail merchandising students that can then be added to this endowment.

For more information, contact Sue Danielson Bretheim at 612-624-1386, or visit the U of M Foundation’s website at: www.giving.umn.edu.

Zong Vang—As one of six employees at a small nonprofit, Zong Vang needs to be a jack (or jane) of all trades who can work on a wide swath of housing issues. Earning her housing studies B.S. degree in 2004 gave her the education, skills, and training required to successfully wear many hats at Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services in St. Paul.

Vang daily uses the information and skills she took away from her housing studies classes and internships, whether she is managing the organization’s rental buildings for low-income families, working on redeveloping foreclosed properties, or serving as a loan officer for different mortgage programs.

“The great thing about the program is that we learned so many different things and it’s really shaped what I do now. That broad-based background is really important when you’re working for a nonprofit,” said Vang, who enjoys helping community residents and using her Hmong language skills to translate for others. “I really liked the interaction between the U and the community and how they work together to help us get real life experience. That’s so valuable.”

oliVer SmitH (BS ’06), a neighborhood preservation specialist for the city of Brooklyn Park, agrees with

by Suzy Frisch

ZoNg vaNg

oliver sMitH

HousiNg studies aluMNi uPdates

Vang that the housing studies program prepared him well for his career. Smith helps the city with code enforcement

and proactive neighborhood inspections. He also works with other city departments like economic development and the police to address livability issues through a neighborhood action program. Currently, big parts of his job include contending with properties that are going through foreclosure and problem rental buildings.

He came away from the U’s housing studies program with deep knowledge of housing issues, government programs, and community engagement. “I think the background to learn neighborhoods, housing issues, and how housing affects people’s real lives was helpful information I got from the Housing Studies program,” said Smith, who is working toward a master’s in public administration. “Having that type of background really helps because it gives you a base of knowledge to apply to what you learn on the job.”

Smith also appreciated the different internships the program helped him line up — in both Smith and Vang’s cases, internships transitioned into their first jobs. Vang’s internship turned into her position with Dayton’s Bluff; Smith was hired as a rental inspector for the city of Minneapolis after completing an internship there.

It turns out getting students into the community makes them well suited for a career doing just that.

4HousiNg studies sPriNg 2010

Radon is a product of a natural process. It’s a chemical gas released during the decay of uranium, a radioactive isotope found in soils around the world. Radon gas is also, however, deadly to humans, especially

when it leaches from the soil into buildings. The colorless, odorless, radioactive gas pollutes indoor air—especially when it builds up in homes—and is the leading cause of lung cancer in those who have never smoked and second leading cause in smokers or former smokers.

In Minnesota, many homes sit on basements buried in the ground and—especially during the cold months, when houses are closed up—have a greater chance of elevated indoor radon levels. Since the 1970s, Bill Angell, professor of Housing Studies and housing specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service, has studied radon and its mitigation in homes.

by Camille LeFevre

As one of the world’s foremost experts on radon gas in homes—Angell is currently chair of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Radon Project Mitigation and Prevention Working group, president of the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists, and director of the Midwest Universities Radon Consortium—he helped design new radon recommendations published in the “WHO

MiNNesota to reQuire radoN MitigatioN

Research conducted by Becky Yust, Marilyn Bruin, and collaborators found that housing supply is a fundamental ingredient in community-growth strategies in small rural towns. Strong local leaders use housing planning to secure funding to

produce a change in the quantity of housing. In turn, the increase in housing units positively influences economic strength and social well-being of small rural communities.

WHAT IF… HOUSINg WAS THE kEY TO COMMUNITY VITALITY?

bill aNgell

ANgELL APPLIES

RADON ExPERTISE TO

DESIgNINg NEW WORLD

HEALTH ORgANIZATION

RECOMMENDATIONS

Handbook on Indoor Radon: A Public Health Perspective,” in late 2009.

Based on new evidence of the risk of lung cancer due to radon in homes, Angell says, the revised guidelines lower by one-third the previously recommended threshold, from 4 pCi/L to 2.7 pCi/L (picocuries per liter). Angell explains that the lower threshold means approximately 400,000 more homes in Minnesota will require radon mitigation.

The guidelines also “note that indoor radon concentrations are the result of the way homes are designed and built,”

Angell said. “This observation clearly places responsibility for radon control on architects, designers, and builders for

effective prevention systems in new homes, as well as on real estate professionals for recommending that home buyers test for

radon before buying a home.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Minnesota has the fourth highest proportion of homes in the nation with dangerously high levels of radon. WHO’s advocacy on this human-health and design-and-construction issue, Angell said, “reflects growing evidence of the serious risk posed by indoor radon.”

According to the environmental protection Agency, Minnesota has the fourth highest proportion of homes in the nation with dangerously high levels of radon.

WILLIAM ANGELL Professor, Extension Specialist

Scholarly Interests: building science, international radon Policy and Programs, radon Prevention, radon Mitigation

MARILYN (Lyn) BRUIN Associate Professor

Scholarly Interests: affordable Housing and Neighborhoods, family Housing decisions and Housing Policy, Homeownership initiatives, Housing for aging Populations, residential satisfaction

JEFF R. CRUMP Associate Professor

Scholarly Interests: affordable Housing, Housing Policy and urban Politics, Housing Markets, subprime lending and foreclosures

BECKY L. YUST Department Head, Professor

Scholarly Interests: Housing adequacy and affordability, Housing decisions and theory, energy consumption and conservation, Homeownership initiatives

ANN C. ZIEBARTH Associate Professor

Scholarly Interests: Housing issues in small towns & rural Places, Housing Policy, rural sociology, Migrant worker Housing, employer assisted Housing, workforce Housing and rural Health care Providers

HousiNg studies sPriNg 2010 5

The University of Minnesota’s graduate programs in Housing Studies provide the opportunity to explore housing issues ranging from housing and neighborhood effects on the wellbeing of families with children to the impact of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Housing Studies graduate programs include a certificate program designed for individuals interested in housing or currently working in housing-related professions. The program requires the completion of 15 credits offered by the Housing Studies program.

A limited number of certificate courses may be considered for use toward the degree requirements for a master’s degree in design with a housing studies track. The master’s degree programs available include both a Plan A program that culminates with a research thesis and a Plan B project-based option. A doctoral degree (Ph.D.) is available for students who are interested in an academic or research career and have already obtained a master’s degree in Housing Studies or a related field.

Check out http://housing.design.umn.edu for current research by Housing Studies faculty and graduate students and then consider collaborating with us in the graduate program. For more information contact us at dhagrad@umn.edu.

waNt to kNow More about HousiNg? tHiNkiNg about graduate scHool?

By 2050 over 20 percent of the world’s population will be age 60 or older. Ann Ziebarth is studying state and local policies designed to enhance livable communities. The project is part of an international study on age-friendly cities headed up by U of M

Housing Studies graduate Dr. Eunju Hwang, who is at the Simon Fraser University’s gerontology Research Center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

WHAT IF… HOMES AND NEIgHBORHOODS EVERYWHERE WERE gREAT PLACES TO LIVE FOR A LIFETIME?

williaM aNgell

lyN bruiN

Jeff cruMP

becky yust

aNN ZiebartH

HousiNg studies faculty

240 McNeal Hall

1985 buford street

st. Paul, MN 55108

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDMinneapolis, MNPermit No. 155

HousiNg studies sPriNg 2010 6

Housing Studies faculty are especially proud of our students. Alumni of the program are actively making a difference improving the housing situations of families in Minnesota and around the globe. Check out this list and see how our alums’ current jobs provide a glimpse into the professional world of housing.

andy Barnett (BS 2003) Construction Field Supervisor, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. Minneapolis, MN.

marilou Cheple (MS 1996; PhD candidate) Direct Programs Supervisor, Minnesota Department of Energy Security, State of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

lois Cutler (PhD 1997) Research Associate, Division of Health Policy & Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota. She is also the Director of graduate Studies for the interdisciplinary graduate minor in gerontology.

eunju Hwang (PhD 2004) BC Real Estate Foundation Fellow, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Hyunjeong lee (PhD) Lecturer, Housing, Child, and Family Studies, kyunghee University, Seoul, korea.

marjorie mangine (BS 1990) Housing & Redevelopment Planner, Economic Development Authority, Brooklyn Park, MN.

matthew moore (BS 1991) Senior Planning Analyst, Hennepin County, MN.

Shannon (meza) Parker (BS 2008) Volunteer Coordinator. Lyngblomsten, St. Paul, MN.

Cheryl Peterson (BS 2001) Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program Manager, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, Minneapolis, MN.

thadeus Shio (PhD 2006) Director, School of Construction Economics and Management, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

elizabeth Sibet (BS 2008) keller Williams Integrity Realty, St. Paul, MN.

Kimberly Skobba (PhD 2008) Consultant specializing in nonprofit program evaluation, research and communications, Hudson, WI.

amanda Smoot (MS 2004) Department Administrator, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Smoot is also a student in the graduate Program in Design, Housing Studies Track.

HOUSINg STUDIES PROgRAM—ALUMNI MAkINg A DIFFERENCE

the university of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

this publication/material is available in alternative formats upon request. direct requests to kathy guiney, kguiney@umn.edu, 612-624-1240.

Housing studies: housing.design.umn.edu

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