Piece by Piece Update

June 7, 2011  

Greetings! 

Thank you for your continued engagement in the Piece by Piece Regional Foreclosure Response Initiative.  Many of you have participated in recent foreclosure-focused events including a Midyear Piece by Piece

Update with U.S. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan on May 10; a Regional Housing Summit hosted by Clayton County Chairman Eldrin Bell featuring Deputy HUD Secretary Ron Sims, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and Atlanta Housing Authority Executive Director Renee Glover; and an educational forum for real estate professionals on rehab mortgage loans including HUD's 203(k) products and Fannie Mae's HomePath Renovation and HomeStyle Mortgage products. 

The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Index includes Atlanta as one of only four cities nationwide (joining Detroit, Cleveland and Las Vegas) where housing price indexes are below 2000 levels.  Our region's housing challenges are significant.  The Piece by Piece network enables partners to CONVENE, CONNECT and ACT to help combat the foreclosure crisis by keeping people in their homes and reoccupying vacant properties.
 

ACTION opportunity!  Volunteers Needed to Assist with HOPE NOW Event Targeting At-Risk Homeowners

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as part of the Obama Administration's Making Home Affordable Program, are partnering with the HOPE NOW Alliance and NeighborWorks America® to bring a free homeowner event

to the area. These events are designed to help bring together homeowners in financial distress for a face-to-face meeting with a representative from their mortgage lender and/or local housing counselor.

Volunteers to participate in one or both days of this event: Friday, June 17, 11:00 am - 7:30 pm and Saturday, June 18, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Georgia International Convention Center (GICC)

2000 Convention Center Concourse

College Park, GA  30337

Please contact Shelia Squier, Volunteer Coordinator, for additional details and to sign up for a shift.  Shelia can be reached at sheila.squier@gmail.com. Additional details about the event can be found here. Additional details about volunteering can be found here.

Piece by Piece Partner Enterprise Community Partners Sponsors NSP Green Training July 19

Enterprise Community Partners will be hosting a HUD NSP Green Regional Workshop at Doubletree Guest Suites, Atlanta Galleria on July 19, 2011. This innovative workshop will provide NSP grantees and their affiliates who carry out redevelopment activities with the information they need to develop green and healthy housing. With a focus on peer-to-peer conversation and learning, this workshop will help grantees and their partners the opportunity to build consensus among team members, seek guidance from industry leaders, and increase the efficiency of their programs. Register for workshop here!

Piece by Piece Partner Atlanta Regional Commission Hosts Community Planning Academy on Foreclosure for Local Governments

On May 24, ARC hosted a Community Planning Academy (CPA) focused on foreclosure. The day-long session was geared toward elected officials, local government staff and any interested parties who deal with issues related to foreclosures. The morning featured several speakers from around the region who discussed some of the latest data on the housing crisis. The afternoon featured panel discussions focused on effective and innovative practices and programs being employed by local governments in the region. These panels were designed to give CPA attendees an understanding of some of the good work occurring around the region to combat foreclosures and deal with their impacts.   Panel participants discussed code enforcement best practices including DeKalb County's mandatory vacant property registration.  Under this program, properties are required to be registered within 30 days following foreclosure sale or proceeding.  Representatives from Union City talked about the City's Operation Cleanup program designed to address vacant properties and code enforcement challenges.

Additional panel discussions focused largely on how counties can organize to address foreclosure. Chris Collier, with the Westside Homebuilders Association, spoke to the Douglas County's Piece-by-Piece initiative and the great progress being made through this coordinated effort. Chris talked about the role cross disciplinary "sales" teams play in neighborhood stabilization, as well as the use of the 203K loan rehab program. The Douglas County PBP program is also using a rehabbed NSP home as a sales center to show what foreclosed homes can become with 203K mortgage products. Mickie Williams, Clayton County's NSP Manager, spoke with the group about the strategies the county has employed in their NSP program, including neighborhood block parties held in neighborhoods with available NSP homes. And Rob Hosack, of Cobb County, spoke to the impact of the county's NSP program.  Cobb County is also working with their sheriff's department, who sends a list every two days of who will be evicted soon. This allows the county to clear up property maintenance issues/liens before eviction happens.

Presentations from the day can be downloaded from

www.atlantaregional.com/cpapresentations.

A list of additional resources can be found here.

Sincerely

Susan Adams

Piece by Piece Coordinator  

P.S. Don't forget, June 15 is the deadline for your Partner Commitment Form!