New housing site provides state and local governments with forclosure toolsMortgagePress.comforeclosures, foreclosure prevention, Center for Housing Policy
HousingPolicy.org, an online guide to state and local housing
policy solutions, has significantly expanded its Foreclosure
Prevention section, providing state and local officials throughout
the country with updated information on how communities are keeping
families affordably in their homes. Faced with rising foreclosures
and delinquencies, communities are looking for solutions to help
stem the tide. HousingPolicy.org provides a much-needed guide to
the foreclosure prevention policies and programs that communities
are using to help families at-risk for foreclosure, as well as
information on how to preserve stability by restoring abandoned
properties.
Rising foreclosures affect both property owners and renters
living in these properties, and also impose substantial costs on
municipalities and neighborhoods. Investing public resources to
prevent foreclosures makes sense for municipalities' bottom line,
and it has additional benefits for neighborhoods which would
otherwise be weakened, local property owners whose property values
would otherwise be driven down, as well as the financially
distressed families themselves.
"State and local governments are taking an increasingly active
role in foreclosure prevention. While part of the reason is
certainly to protect owners and renters from the loss of their
home, the reasons extend beyond that," said Jeffrey Lubell,
executive director of the Center for Housing Policy. "The tools and
resources available on HousingPolicy.org provide states and
localities with information on how other communities are working to
help avoid the often steep costs of foreclosures, prevent losses in
homeownership and rental occupancy, and stabilize a malfunctioning
mortgage market. We very much hope this information will help
communities move faster and more effectively to meet their
residents needs."
With the increasing use of complex adjustable-rate and
non-conventional mortgage products, families' buying and borrowing
power may also be at-risk without foreclosure prevention programs
designed to help keep them in their homes. As outlined on
HousingPolicy.org, one way to preserve families' buying and
borrowing power is through suitable refinancing products and
emergency loans. Refinance loans with flexible underwriting
requirements, for example, can help families to successfully avoid
foreclosure despite a weak credit and debt profile or owing more
than the current value of the home.
According to HousingPolicy.org, it is also critical to marry a
refinance loan approach with foreclosure prevention counseling,
legal services, and other tools as part of a comprehensive
foreclosure prevention strategy. Such strategies are designed to
help existing homeowners maintain their homeownership status in the
face of confusing mortgage products, rising interest rates and
rising property tax bills while also protecting renters and
preserving communities.
For more information, visit www.HousingPolicy.org.
