This is to achieve Goal 5:Transform The Way HUD Does Business, Sub-Goal C: Create flexible, modern rules and systems that promote responsiveness, openness, and transparency and HUD's 2nd Core Value: Efficient and Effective ways

Specifically, HIAMS Requestor (GTR) Training is an 1 ½ day IN-PERSON training course that OCPO usually only offers once a month (if that) and it is usually in HQ. This required training has become an obstacle for GTR Appointments.

HUD GTRs change frequently due to work load balance, new personnel, retirements, etc. GTRs that do not complete HIAMS Requestor Training are not provided HIAMS role of GTR. These certified GTRs without HIAMS Requestor Training cannot be appointed as GTRs via modification in HIAMS. This has a direct impact and hinders management’s ability and flexibility to manage its staff and carrying out HUD’s mission.

We needs to work smarter in our current environment of lack of travel funds, budget cuts and sequestration.

For example In February 2013, HQ paid for two DHOC employees to fly to DC at a cost of $2534 ($1,267 each) to attend classroom HIAMS Requestor (GTR) training. However, in April 2013 an urgent need arose that another staff needed the training. The travel estimate for this trip is $1655 which is a 25% increase from the February rate of $1267. This increase is most likely due to the Cherry Blossom season in DC, which runs from April through June. Due to lack of travel funds and the trip being unplanned the staff member was not able to go and to date has still not received the training and is unable to be a GTR by OCPO standards.

The Requester training uses primarily examples from the Requisition (new) side of HIAMS and Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product. However, 90% of the GTR work in HIAMS is specific to HUD modifications to the COTS product, and very rarely requisitions for new contracts. As a result, field staff has developed and provided supplemental guidance and training for GTRs and GTMs to cover the Request for Modification (old) side of HIAMS and to address HUD specific requirements.

There are several efficient and effective ways the training can be delivered. Some possibilities are: Live Meeting, Webcast, shared desktop, Train-the-Trainer, OCPO staff from offices around the country can deliver onsite training in the field, or some combination of the above.

With cuts to authorized travel due to the effects of Sequestration, HUD needs a cost-effective method for staff to still participate in offsite conferences, meetings, and other events. This can be done "vitually".
Rather than sending several people to an event, HUD can leverage its enterprise videoconferencing capability by sending one person to an event to set up a virtual connection.
For example, at this year's Western Lenders Conference, 10 HUD staff from 6 different field offices and HQ are scheduled to be speakers and/or panelists. If HUD sends just one person to the event who is technically proficient and properly equipped, that person can connect to a HUD-scheduled videoconference via VPN using Jabbar (HUD's desktop VTC client). Everyone who is scheduled as an actual participant can thus be connected to the event from any HUD office.
In addition to the significan cost savings with travel expenses, the time saved by each individual would also be greatl.
HUD can start out with one fulltime person to travel and setup videoconferences with several others designated as backup or secondary in order to cover overlapping events or unavailability of the primary.

Two things that are true to HUD: 1 - EVERY office needs a certain mixture of skills that is either not available or not respected within their current personnel; 2 - EVERY office pays a ridiculous sum of money to contractors to say the exact same thing that HUD personnel has already described as needed for successful program operation.

Why not marry these two (and include HUD's rotation program) to create an office specifically designed to tackle HUD wide special projects and initiatives.

Currently, the rotation program is trying to fill that void. However, managers will not let their most talented employees apply for rotations because they are either bogged down with office essential projects or necessary to perform program operations as desired.

In addition, there are people on staff who have worked with/competed against the very consulting agencies that we currently employ to handle various tasks that agency personnel have experience performing prior to coming to HUD. Why is their experience in project management and corporate solutions continuously being tossed aside for yet another bloated contract with Deloitte?

In a year where most of us are taking paycuts due to the lack of funds... how about we start looking for internal fixes to our most pressing issues? That starts with a group that is created to do so - a Special Project Office.

Believing a healthy body primes us all for the best, more efficient, effective life-style and reduces costs associated with unhealthy bodies and minds, it is time HUD soldiers in the fight to improve the lives of our citizens, begin a supported investment in improving their health through teamwork. Each office within a Region can establish a team (Team OGC, CPD, etc.), they will get a base-line fitness work-up, have an official HUD weigh-in and record keeper, and after 90-days, (1) the Team that loses the moset weight gets bragging rights; lunch; and each member of the team gets two days off; the individual that loses the most weight in the competition gets three days off; and the individual whose #'s improved the most (not including weight, so cholesterol, blood pressure) gets one day off.

HUD Staff spend alot of time doing research and designing tools to do their jobs. The NSP Team (at HQ) designed a resource exchange that has evolved into a larger one. It's a good example of how employees doing similar activities across the country came together to help each other. While the NSP was in full force, the team had weekly/monthly forums and knew each other by name.

By necessity, a group of Financial Analysts in the Southeast created a quarterly conference call to discuss like roles, duties and protocols. This has evolved into a group that has grown by word of mouth to 32 and now occurs monthly.

If we had access to the list of all Financial Analysts in CPD, we could make this forum more effective. A contact list like this for every type of position, either formally or informally would reduce the amount of time and research necessary.

Our discussions lead to efficiencies; consistency across field offices on how to respond to audit inquiries, how to complete quarterly SF425s and what to do with them, how to read IDIS reports and what should be reviewed, etc...

This process/design and contact information could be duplicated across all program areas, whether CPD Representatives, Program Assistants, FHEO, etc... to update each other and secure best practices.

During the pre-marketing and marketing stages of getting the property ready for listing and the offer stage, the brokers are tasked to perform multiple home inspections. The inspection form is almost standardized between all of the large servicers used by HUD. The brokers use different technologies to perform the inspections and will have to login to the servicer platform and upload the photos, a photo addendum, and inspection form. I would like to propose that the servicers open their platform to allow the back-office technologies used by the brokers to link to the servicer and send that information automatically. The brokers perform thousands of these inspections every week and this could be a savings of thousands of hours that could be fully automated at this time. HUD would be an example for the rest of the large owners who are in a very similar situation and where technology could be linked together. Please, we need these platforms to have open doors to other technologies for automation and savings of huge amounts of unproductive work that can be fully automated.

HUD had a program that was designed to help struggling homeowners. The Assignment Program was government assistance to homeowners that went into default on their FHA mortgage loans.

Instead of foreclosing on the borrowers, qualified borrowers would be able to stay in their homes and pay their mortgage directly to HUD. HUD would provide temporary relief when needed to further assist the homeowners.

Curently, HUD has a Loan Modification program that should act as a temporary aid for homeowners. However, the Assignment Program was a much broader and effective method for continued homeownership possibilities.

With the Assignment Program, whena mortgagor went into default on his/her mortgage, they would be sent to HUD for an application into the program. If they qualified for the program, their mortgage would be assigned to HUD. HUD would pay off the existing mortgage and become the mortgagee. HUD could then provide the homeowner assistance without incurring any further delinquent interest due to the mortgagee,

Someone previously suggested that a Servicing Mortgagee should be allowed to reduce interest rates to help struggling mortgagors, well that could happen under a HUD controlled environment.

Today's HUD News Briefing (April 8, 2013) is 312 pages long. What happened to the former briefing that provided a synopsis of important stories and could be viewed in 5 minutes. Even the index without summaries is 8 pages long, two columns and only provides the actual headlines. It isn't until you open an article do you realize it is a human interest story and not hard news that might be applicable. I find it hard to believe that anyone has the time to use this information anymore. Or maybe a better comment, I hope no one has this much free time to read this daily.

“HUD in your Neighborhood”

The Obama Administration has set the bar high in demanding a results-oriented government that is transparent and accessible to the people. “HUD in Your Neighborhood” is one way of trying to achieve that in communities throughout the United States The concept of HUD in your Neighborhood is to accommodate a one-day clinic/technical information session on HUD programs, tools and funding avaiabilites.

Regional and Field Offices serves as an important outpost to local communities and organizations, however we lack the capacity to meet and provide face-to-face consultation on specific specialized areas as a whole agency to those communities we serve. " HUD In Your Neighborhood 2011 " will “take the show on the road” and provide a forum to increase outreach and education activities of HUD Programs and tools.

The sessions are geared for Congressional Staff, Faith –Based, Community Based Organizations, Local Elected Officials or Industry Partners.It will also provide greater cross programming and interagency communication and collaboration combining National Strategic Goals and MAP. This will improve customer service and provide technical assistance for existing and future development projects to those we serve

The goal of the initiative is to offer Subject Matter Experts from various HUD departments to provided hands on training and practical assistance empowering Stakeholders HUD program and funding opportunities for future development from our, team of experts. The majority of the HUD funds are administered locally by local non-profit and government partners.

HUD will provide SME’S , information , technical assistance and logistics for the development of HUD in your Community, marketing, organizing, and sponsorship of the event will be the responsibility of the host agency or municaplity

Participating in the Innovation Time Pilot would provided me the opportunity to transform how HUD does business by improving customer service and provide technical assistance for existing and future development projects to those we serve

I propose a new smartphone app focused on location based, subsidized housing searches.

HUD has an app for HUD Homes but it is limited in scope. HUD needs a complete overhaul of how it approaches IT and how it delivers information to the public.

We have publicly available information from the National Housing Preservation Database listing federally subsidized housing units. We can geocode those locations to render as points on a map. A user can filter their search by radius from current location, whether the unit accepts Section 8, does a PHA have an open waiting list...the possibilities are endless. The app can link to the local PHA/HRA of a user, can provide typical housing information that each field office receives calls on a regular basis, and should provide contact information to the nearest PHA/HRA (phone number, address, URL).

In addition to the new subsidized housing app, a similar location based, interactive subsidized housing map should be placed on the front page of each public field office website.

Finally, this project will truly give HUD the WOW factor in terms of technology that is has been lacking in the past. This idea also covers Goal 5 of the HUD Strategic Plan: Transform the Way HUD Does Business. More Americans are getting their daily news and information from smartphones and web-based searches yet HUD is content with mailing thick paper copies of public housing lists.

Let's create a 21st century product and get this smartphone app created.

When a lender closes a loan and sets up a repair escrow. We give the lender the sole responsibility to update FHA connection with the completion and close out of that escrow account. Borrowers who try to refinance their current FHA loan often can’t because the original lender never completed the close out in FHA connection. In many cases the loan has been sold to a new investor or is currently being serviced by another mortgage company. The borrower is unable to move forward until the initial originating company is contacted and harassed enough to update our system. I’m sure there are hundreds if not thousands of lenders who are non-compliant. With no repercussion in place many lenders just simply opt out of this portion of the process. Something as simple as a $25 fine for the system not being updated after 6 months or $50 at the 1 year mark, which is ample time to accommodate for most of the repairs we allow in escrow. Would generate immense revenue for the department. This nominal fee would definitely generate an initial windfall from lenders already in the pipeline. Just a thought!