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AGM Members and Partners
As is evident in the daily papers, the online news
services and nightly news broadcasts, this country is
facing an unprecedented crisis in the area of home
mortgage foreclosures. In January, home
foreclosures in Massachusetts alone climbed up
128% from the numbers reported last year . As the
crisis deepens, The Center for Responsible Lending
forecasts that nationally 2.2 million families will
experience foreclosure over the next few years. This
follows in the wake of more than 1.2 million
foreclosure filings in 2006.
Today's mortgage crisis is not a simple story, nor is
there a simple solution. In this issue of Issues &
Insights, we hear from government agencies, area
nonprofits and partners about how they are dealing
with the crisis and working together to help reach out
to borrowers in distress and stabilize communities in
danger. Read On...
To learn more about how funders can address this
urgent issue, join us at A Funders Briefing on The Mortgage
Foreclosure Crisis, Wednesday, April 9 from 1:30-3:30
pm at Senate Chambers, Northeastern University.
| City of Boston's Efforts in Foreclosure Prevention |
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The slowing economy, lost wages, and predatory
lending practices are common factors that are leading
to the unprecedented rise of foreclosures in major
metropolitan cities across the country - including
Boston - and posing a significant challenge in
preserving the health and well-being of our
neighborhoods and communities.
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| MassHousing Takes an Active Role |
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MassHousing was created in 1966 as a self-
supporting, independent public authority tasked with
increasing affordable rental and for-sale housing in
Massachusetts. It operates as the state's affordable
housing bank, lending money at rates below the
conventional market to support affordable rental and
home ownership opportunities for low to moderate
income residents of Massachusetts. The organization
relies on private nonprofit and for profit developers
and management companies to build and operate the
rental housing they finance and they partner with an
extensive network of approved lenders to deliver their
home mortgage programs to first-time buyers.
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| The Power of Pre-Purchase Education and the SoftSecond Program |
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LaTanya Ramsey is in the final stages of buying a
house - and she's excited. Expecting to close any day
now, you can hear the pride and enthusiasm in her
voice when she tells you that soon, she and her 8-
year-old daughter will be living in their brand new
home. Her story also conveys an upbeat level of
confidence and self-satisfaction that now is the right
time for her to be buying a home.
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| Influencing Legislation through Action and Research |
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In addition to home-buyer education classes, the
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) is
also extremely active in organizing around legislation
for affordable housing and fair lending practices.
Funded in part by The Hyams Foundation and The
Boston Foundation, the Alliance embarked on a seven-
year campaign that resulted in the foreclosure
prevention legislation being passed in November. We
talked to Executive Director Tom Callahan about this
new legislation, the role that research played in their
campaign, and what enforcement of the Community
Reinvestment Act might mean for home buyers in the
future.
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| The Brockton Initiative |
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The Southeastern Massachusetts Affordable Housing
Corporation (SEMHAC), an affiliate of the Brockton
Housing Authority (BHA), has partnered with the Paul
and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation (PPFCF)
and the Commonwealth's Department of Housing
and Community Development (DHCD) to embark on
an exciting initiative to revitalize a Brockton
neighborhood through the rehabilitation of abandoned
properties to create rental housing and services for
low income families.
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| Creating a National Foreclosure Prevention Hotline for the AAPI Community |
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The Asian Community Development Corporation
(ACDC) in Boston is currently seeking support to
develop Speakeasy, a national hotline to assist Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the United
States with limited-English proficiency in accessing
foreclosure prevention resources and counseling.
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| Few Protections, Harsh Outcomes |
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Some of the casualties of today's subprime mortgage
crisis aren't even homeowners. Scores of renters in
Massachusetts are being kicked out of their homes,
even when they haven't missed a single rent payment.
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IN THIS ISSUE: Hear from local organizations dealing with the mortgage crisis and working to stabilize communities in danger. |
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