homeownership 
Mon Dec 27, 2010 at 10:31:19 AM EST
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It's amazing how things can change in just a few years. Two recent stories about the foreclosure crisis illustrate the complexities of the problem, and some potential sollutions. Both articles also point out how much the problem has ballooned in just two years.
The New York Times ran a story over the weekend about a Pennsylvania couple that nearly faced eviction after missing a mortgage payment back in 2008 and being unable to pay the piling up late fees and interest. In the end, the couple was able to work with their lender to modify the terms of their mortgage, an unusual occurance in the current landscape. But they had to file for bankcruptcy, and it appears that a reporter's call to the mortgage company had something to do with the positive outcome.
The Boston Globe has a story today detailing some heartbreaking stories about homeowners fighting for their homes in housing court. Some hold out hope that Boston Community Capital, a CDFI and Tzedec borrower working to prevent foreclosures through its Stabilizing Urban Neighborhoods Program, which we've written about here before, will purchase their homes and sell them back to the homeowners at market rates and affordable monthly payments. But as Elyse Cherry, BCC Executive Director, points out in the article, the problem is so big that BCC estimates it can help about 20% of Boston and Revere, MA homeowners in trouble. That leaves a lot of people in danger of losing their homes.
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Tue Jul 13, 2010 at 15:01:00 PM EDT
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Last weekend, I took a trip up to the Poconos for a little 4th of July fun: bbq’s, canoeing, and seeing the gorgeous mountains in the Delaware Water Gap. If you went to Jewish summer camp somewhere along the East Coast, you’ll remember this place; it’s got level 1 rapids which means that there is no way you can fall out of your canoe, unless you are my dad, in which case you fall out twice.
Next door to our bed & breakfast was basically what looked like summer camp for adults: a private community along the Delaware River with a several groups of bungalows and a shared lawn. I did a little digging and discovered that 25% of Pennsylvania residents live in private communities: closed off communities-- the one I saw was gated-- where private companies are responsible for making sure residents get services that governments otherwise provide. Services like road plowing after a snow-storm, trash collecting, even maintaining septic systems and dams.
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Tue Jun 08, 2010 at 12:00:02 PM EDT
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Abuse of borrowers and homeowners in the go-go aughts by the mortgage industry is pretty well known. Many people have heard about predatory lending. Women, the elderly, and people of color were disproportionately sold - often through fraudlent means - exotic mortgages, exploding ARM mortgages, and other nonstable, subprime financial instruments that banks negligently did zero due diligence on, further enabling fraud. But fewer people have heard of the abuse of homeowners by mortgage serving agencies. An article in The New York Times sheds some light into this vile practice.
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Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 16:05:44 PM EDT
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In the spring of 2009, certain politicians, pundits, and others lacking knowledge blamed ongoing foreclosure crisis on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). A year later, I wondered if things had calmed down a bit (I don't know why I would think that, given the other rhetoric currently bandied about, but I guess I was trying to be optimistic.) Nope. People are still blaming a policy that tried to bring about some economic justice - and actually prevented the housing financial metldown from being worse than what is was - for today's woes. Not only is this tactic a smokescreen for the real problems that we face, but it is also patently false. Even if the CRA is not the hot topic these days, I think it is important to understand what it is. CRA requires banks with branches in disadvantaged communities to stop discriminatory practices called redlining. Redlining means that no matter what the credit worthiness of a borrow is, if he or she lives within certain boundaries, banks summarily dismiss their loan applications. While redlining is technically illegal, banks continued to practice it anyway. CRA said that if you want to do business in a community, you need to find ways to responsibly invest in it. One way to do so is to find credit-worthy borrowers and provide them with mortgages. This worked very well for over 30 years.
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