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June 9, 1999
Page A3
(Tlje ÿlortUnô (íMwruer
Making the American
Dream a Reality
From June 5,h through 12*, the
nation will celebrate the third annual
National Homeownerehip Week. This
weeklong celebration com memorates
the an n iv ersary o f the N ational
Homeownership Strategy developed
by President Clinton to increase the
number o f homeowners across the
country. H omeownership has long
been recognized as a key com ponent
j f the “A merican D ream” . Last year,
more Americans than ever before were
a b le to tu rn th e ir d re a m o f
homeownership into a reality. By the
end o f 1998, over 5.5 million house­
holds owned their homes.
In c e le b ra tio n o f N a tio n a l
Homeownership W eek, local organi­
zations across the country will spon­
sor more than 1,000 events to pro­
mote homeownership. These events
will include hom ebuyer fairs, sem i­
nars and workshops, official procla­
mations and open houses. N ew na­
tional initiatives and the efforts o f
local partnership hard at work through-
o u t th e n a tio n to p ro m o te
homeownership will be featured. But
m o re
im p o rta n tly ,
N a tio n a l
H om eow nership W eek w ill give
American families the information and
the inspiration necessary to help them
achieve their dream ofbuying a home.
T h e N a tio n a l P a rtn e rs in
Homeownership, a diverse mix o f 66
national organizations, sponsor na­
tio n a l h o m e o w n e rs h ip W eek .
Founded by President Clinton and led
by U.S. Department o f housing and
urban Development (HUD) Secre­
tary Andrew Cuomo, the Partnership
works towards a common goal - in­
creasing the nation’s homeownership
rate to an all-time high o f 67.5% by
the end o fth e year 2000. Their work
is already producing results. The
national homeownership rate reached
its highest point ever - 66.8%, a 2.2%
increase since the formation o f the
Partnership in 1995. Some other im­
pressive gains have also been made.
In the period from 1995-1999:
•T h e A fr ic a n A m e ric a n
ho m eo w n ersh ip rate in creases
from 42.5 % to 45.9%
• The H ispanic hom eownership rate
increases from 41.2% to 45.7%
• The rate for fem ale-headed house­
holds increased from49.5%to5 1.6%
• T h e ra te fo r c e n tr a l c ity
hom eow nership increases form
49.5% to 50.0%
An important member o f this Part­
nership, HUD - and its Federal Hous­
ing A dm inistration (FHA) mortgage
insurance program - are spearhead­
ing national initiatives as a catalyst to
generate affordable housing initia­
tives. O ver the past few m onths,
HUD and the FHA have been updat­
ing their program s and making them
more accessible to hom ebuyers, es­
pecially first-time homebuyers.
The FHA loam limits has been
increased to keep pace with rising hom£
prices, up to $208,800 in high-cost >
for loan limits where you are.
• FHA has a newly simplified down
paym ent calculation that requires
homebuyers put down only 3% o fth e
home purchase price, w hich is less
than the 5% down paym ent required
by many conventional loans.
• FHA allow s hom ebuyers to use
gifts for their entire dow n paym ent
w hile conventional loans generally
require that a portion o f the dow n
paym ent com e from personal funds.
• FHA credit requirem ents offer
more flexibility than do those ofm any
C T h i A ssociati » P risa
B E L G R A D E , Y ugoslavia - Af-
term o re than 2 1/2 m onths ofN A T O
a irstrik es, S lo b o d an M ilo se v ic ’s
governm ent today accepted an in­
ternational peace plan, capitulating
on W estern dem ands to end the
K osovo conflict.
The decision came right after Serb
lawmakers in Belgrade overwhelmingly
approved a peace deal to resolve the
crisis and allow the return o f more than
850,000 ethnic Albanians to Kosovo.
’’Y ugoslavia accepts the docu­
m ent for peace brought by the high­
est representatives o f the European
U nion and R ussia,” the state Tanjug
new s agency said follow ing talks
betw een M ilosevic, form er Russian
Prem ier V iktor C hernom yrdin and
Finnish President M artti Ahtisaari.
Serb state m edia reported tw o
people w ere seriously w ounded in
the attack on a N aftagas fuel depot
near Som bor, close to the border
w ith H ungary.
The plan w ould also require the
return o f all the ethnic A lbanian refu­
gees expelled - m ostly to A lbania
and M acedonia - since March.
F innish Prim e M inister Paavo
Lipponen told reporters at the EU
sum m it in C ologne, G erm any, that
the agreem ent ’’w ill be subject to
confirm ation from all those involved,
including the E uropean Union. It’s
too serious to start partying y et.”
A text o f the statem ent on the
peace plan that was distributed in the
Serb parliam ent show ed M ilosevic
w as forced to accept N A TO term s on
a broad range o f issues.
A m ong those: quick and verifi­
able withdrawal o f Y ugoslav army
and Serb forces from Kosovo; de­
ploym ent to K osovo o f an ’’effi­
cient” - shorthand but w ell-arm ed -
force * ’with essential N A TO partici­
pation” under ‘ ’unified control” ; and
* ’substantial autonom y’ ’ for the m a­
jority ethnic A lbanians o f Kosovo.
N A TO m ilitary spokesm an Col.
Konrad Freytag said Serb forces will
also be responsible for clearing land
m ines they planted in Kosovo during
their cam paign to drive out ethnic
A lbanians and push back the Kosovo
Liberation Army.
Some 16,000 N A TO troops, to be
part o f a peacekeeping force for
K osovo, are already in M acedonia;
N A TO raise this figure W ednesday
nearly twice as high, to 47,900 -
including 7,000 U.S. troops.
The Serb Radical Party, w hich
had backed the governm ent until
today’s em ergency session, broke
aw ay to vote against the peace plan
that passed 136-74. " W e voted
against this deal because we believe
that the w ithdraw al o f our troops
from K osovo am id N A TO crim inal
bom bardm ent is unacceptable,’' said
S erbian deputy prem ier V ojislav
Seselj, leader o f the Serb Radical
Party. "W e shall not sit in the gov­
ernm ent and aw ait the arrival o f
N A TO troops into Kosovo."
S erbia’s Civic A lliance hailed the
Y ugoslav governm ent acceptance o f
the peace deal but noted terms o f the
agreem ent are nearly the sam e as in
the Ram bouillet, France, peace talks
that broke dow n right before NATO
typically does.
Still, there is much to be done to
ensure that more people can realize
their very ow n A m erican dream
National H omeownership W eek of­
fers a prime chance to reflect on the
possibilities, and the realities, o f
homeownership by providing a focus
and establishing a forum for educa­
tion, discussions and new initiatives
LookforNationalHomeownership
W eek events in your area. You can
also call your local HUD office or
a c c e ss H U D ’s w eb s ite at
www.hud.gov to find out w hich ac­
tivities are taking place near you.
bom bings began.
” If the bom bing is going to end,
all citizens o f Y ugoslavia have rea­
son to celebrate,” party spokesm an
G oran Svilanovic said, adding hun­
dreds o f people died in bom bings
that could have been avoided.
The approval com es one day after
a m ajo r d ip lo m atic p u sh in the
Y ugoslav capital, w hich represented
the W est’s first official contact with
the Belgrade leadership since the
N A TO cam paign began.
It was also the first time Russia,
Yugoslavia ’ s main ally, has been largely
in step with the Western powers.
Authorities have consistently de­
manded that any deal respect Yugoslav
borders - shorthand for their rejection o f
independence for Kosovo - and that the
United Nations be given a role in over­
seeing a Kosovo peace.
Parliament’s endorsement o f the
plan showed Milosevic was willing to
accept what the West says is a take-it-
or-leave-it deal in which he must pull
all Serb forces out o f Kosovo and
allowaNATO-ledpeacekeeping force
into the embattled Serbian province.
Chernom yrdin was quoted as say­
ing the agreement calls for Yugosla­
via and NATO to work out a formula
for the withdrawal o f Serb troops from
Kosovo. The allies have insisted their
troops be ” at the core” o f a peace­
keeping force, som ething Milosevic
previously rejected.
Ninety percent o f K osovo’s pre­
w ar population o f 2 m illion was eth­
nic Albanian. N A TO intervened 13
months after Serb forces cracked down
on ethnic Albanians, killing at least
2,000 people.
Antitrust Settlements
Totaling $50 Million
A ttorney G eneral Hardy M yers
announced multi-state, antitrust settle­
ments totaling $40 million with na­
tional retailer Toys ‘R ’ Us and toy
manufacturers Mattel and The Little
Tikes Company. The Oregon Depart­
ment o f Justice helped negotiate the
settlements, which will result in the
distribution o f toys worth more than
$389,000 to needy children in Oregon
for the next three holiday seasons and
approximately $150,000 in cash for
children's programs.
“Oregon non-profit organizations
and ehanties, which struggle every De­
cember to provide enough toys tbrneedy
children, can look forward to a bounti­
ful distribution for the next three holi­
day seasons thanks to these settlements.' ’
Myers said. “N ot only will there be
more toys for our children but also
money in the form o f grants to educa­
tional programs that benefit children."
The settlements resolve the final
portion o f a lawsuit filed in 1997 by
the Attorneys General of44 states, the
District ofColum bia, and Puerto Rico
alleging that the defendants conspired
for more than ten years to withhold
popular toys from low’ margin ware­
house clubs that undercut Toys ‘ R ' Us
prices. According to the lawsuit, the
defendants, including Hasbro, Inc.,
reached illegal agreements to limit the
sale o f certain toys to warehouse clubs
and to sell other popular toys to ware­
house clubs only in combination packs
As a resu lt warehouse clubs could
not com pete in price with Toys ‘R ’
Us, and consumers paid more for the
toys. Hasbro settled with the multi­
state group in December 1998 for
$5.95 million in toys and cash. Or­
egon received $42,000 in toys from
the Hasbro settlement.
Under the terms o f the settlements,
Oregon will receive $321300 in toys
from Toys ‘R ’ Us, $58,700 in toys from
* • o ♦r’M1*
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higher loan limits,
you can buy your
conventional lenders.
• FHA lets borrow ers carry m ore
debt than a private m ortgage insurer
Yugoslavia Accepts
Kosovo Peace Plan
Bv CANDICE HUGHES
With FHA's new
areas and $ 115.200 in low-cost areas.
Check with a participating local lender
Mattel, the nation’s largest toy manu­
facturer, and $9,400 in toys from The
Little Tikes Company. Oregon also will
recover its attorney fees and investiga­
tive costs. In addition, it is a condition of
the Toys ‘R ’ Us settlement that the toys
distributed to states not inc lude toy guns
or depict violent activities.
Attorney General Myers will an­
nounce details ofOrcgon ’ s toy distribu-
tionby theU.S M anneCorps’ Toys for
Tots” program next fell. Information
concerning applications for grants to
youth programs will be available soon.
For more information concerning
these settlements and other consumer
protection issues, consumers may con­
tact the Attorney G eneral’s hotline by
calling (503) 378-4320 or (503) 229-
5576(Portlandonly)between the hours
o f 8:30 a.m. to noon, M onday through
Friday or by writing Financial Fraud/
C onsum er Protection, 1162 Court
Street, N.E. Salem, Oregon 97310
dream home
V
H o w 's
th a t fo r a h o u s e w a r m in g
g ift?
Since 1934 w e've helped over 26 million Americans get into new
homes. And starting this year, HUD can help you get a home loan for
up to $208,8 00. Be sure to check with your lender to find out what
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i with any questions you might have. Just call 1 -800-HUDS-FHA and ask
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And much more. In fact, if you're looking for a home, it's all
the information you need.
H U D and FH A arc on your side.
1 - 8 0 0 - H U D S - F H A
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