Margert in the News

Subprime Crisis Does Not Bode Well For Rockaway
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The Wave: Opinions
Friday, September 21, 2007

Comptroller William Thompson says that we have a problem, and he is undoubtedly right.

While no precise local statistics on foreclosures are available, calls to the Comptroller's Foreclosure Help Line and citywide numbers show that people are losing their homes at record rates. Foreclosures around the city have skyrocketed 30 percent in the last month. In August of 2006, there were 572 foreclosure filings. Last month, there were 1,121. Statistics provided by the Comptroller in a new report show that in Queens alone there are 9,458 homes in pre-foreclosure mode, 1,307 going into auction and 2,084 that are now owned by the banks that provided the mortgage.

Experts, including Comptroller Thompson, who spoke with The Wave about the problem last week, say that there are many reasons. The major one, of course, is that many lending institutions provided low-cost, adjustable-rate mortgages to borrowers who could not qualify for traditional, fixed-rate mortgages. As the cost of the mortgage payments grew, the borrowers' ability to pay did not. Also, many people who bought homes when prices were steadily increasing each year hoped that they could "flip," or resell them, at a profit within a few years. Such buyers are now finding that they cannot get rid of their houses, even for the prices they paid several years ago. That is true of both single-family and two-family homes.

Why is Rockaway particularly susceptible to this latest housing crisis? Because Rockaway faces the one-two punch of the sub-prime mortgage problem and a tenuous rental market. Virtually all of the new homes being built in Rockaway are two-family units. In many cases, borrowers were approved for mortgages based, in part, on the income that they were expected to receive for renting one or more rental units.

Now, however, many of these new homeowners cannot find a tenant willing to pay the $1,200 or more in rent that they need each month to remain solvent on the loan. With the enormous home-building spree of the last few years, there are simply too many rental apartments chasing too few tenants.

What can be done to keep the housing and commercial revitalization ball moving forward in Rockaway? The answer may sound simplistic, but it is to keep the houses affordable to middle class buyers and to insure that only those qualified are provided with mortgages. This week's Federal Reserve reduction in the prime rate may ease the impact of the mortgage crisis on adjustable loans, but will do little to help the two-family homeowner with an empty rental.

That is why we must change the development plan. A healthy mix of single-family, two-family, and multiple-family development, with emphasis on the single family, is the key to a stable home market.

It may already be too late, but continuing to build two-family homes in the face of a static rental demand is a formula for neighborhood failure. Rockaway is on a roll and we hope that it is not derailed by greed and poor financial decisions on the part of any of the stakeholders, be they lenders, developers, or buyers.

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Risky Loans Help Build Ghost Town of New Homes
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Published: September 24, 2007

Along the streets of Far Rockaway, many recently built two- and three-family town houses sit waiting for even one family to move in. Some have boarded-up windows, while others have clumps of garbage in driveways that have never seen a car. Desperate developers hoping to cover their bets — and stem their losses — tape up both For Rent and For Sale signs inside windows that face nearly deserted streets.

City Councilman James Sanders Jr., with empty new town houses.

But as the market cooled and credit got tighter, many of the new homes sat empty. On a few blocks, developers have built nothing but plywood walls to hide the weed-choked lots after the old houses were torn down.

Read the Full Story.

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Margert Kicks Off New Home Purchase Assistance Program
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MARGERT WINS NEW HOME AWARD
 Announces Kick-off of its 2006 First HOME Program

HOME awards are used to provide a first time homebuyer purchase assistance subsidy, in the form of a deferred payment (or forgivable) loan, and may not exceed $ 30,000. Eligible activities include down payment and closing costs assistance.

Eligible HOME recipients must be low and moderate income residents of Queens County, who have found a home they can afford and can qualify for permanent financing. To qualify for our HOME program, you must complete a homebuyer education course taught by Margert Community Corporation.

Margert’s 2006 HOME program has set aside two units for veteran first time homebuyers, two units for elderly first time homebuyers, and two units for first time homebuyers with physical disabilities.

In addition to home purchase assistance, Margert provides a wide range of housing programs and services, including housing counseling, homeownership training, affordable mortgage loans, special loan programs, credit counseling, a “Your Money Counts” course and home maintenance training.

To apply, please visit Margert on the web (www.margert.org) or call 718-471-3724.

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NYCHA Issues 200 Section 8 Vouchers
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THE HOUSING AUTHORITY JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER 2007

FOR THE 200 NEW YORKERS WHO FILLED THE AUDITORIUM OF THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE ON THE MORNING OF JULY 30TH, IT WAS A DAY THEY WOULD NOT WANT TO MISS.

They were the newest Section 8 Housing Choice voucher holders, and they had come to
pick up their vouchers, attend an orientation and receive a personal welcome into the program from New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman Tino Hernandez, Vice-Chairman Earl Andrews, Jr., Board Member Margarita López and General Manager Douglas Apple. They would then go out to find their new apartments.

It was an historic occasion because these were the first non-emergency Section 8 vouchers
to be distributed by NYCHA since the waiting list was closed approximately 12 years ago for
lack of funding. Chairman Hernandez joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in January to
announce that the list was reopening with 22,000 new vouchers to be distributed over a two-year period. Within three months of the announcement, NYCHA had distributed nearly
470,000 applications and received over 230,000 completed applications in return.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program allows recipients to rent apartments from private participating landlords. The voucher holder pays 30% of his or her gross income toward a Fair Market Rent and the government picks up the rest of the tab. One of the most exciting things about the Section 8 program is that voucher holders can use the vouchers anywhere in the country where the Section 8 program is in operation.

In addition to distributing the vouchers and holding an orientation, NYCHA also used the
briefing as an opportunity to announce a series of customer service and web-based enhancements to make the Section 8 program more appealing to the 29,000 landlords who currently participate. These include the ability for private landlords to receive rent subsidy payments electronically and to list available Section 8 apartments online.  “Today’s event demonstrates the value of the Section 8 program to provide affordable housing to thousands of New Yorkers who struggle to make ends meet,” said Chairman Hernandez.  “I wish you the best of luck in finding an apartment.”  As of March 31, 2007, 82,740 voucher holders rented apartments through Section 8 administered by NYCHA. Anyone who has applied for a voucher should note that this is only the first wave of vouchers to be distributed. As mentioned earlier, NYCHA plans to distribute a total of 22,000 vouchers over two years.

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Are You Facing Foreclosure?
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Margert Community Corporation can help!

Far Rockaway, September 30, 2007....Margert Community Corporation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that has been providing neighborhood preservation services, housing assistance, and housing counseling to low-income tenants and homeowners, the elderly, and persons with disabilities since 1980. We are a New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) Neighborhood Preservation Company, a HUD approved housing counseling agency, and an NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) HomeFirst and PACE partner, providing comprehensive assistance to persons who want to rent, buy or already own a home, and who seek to be responsible renters, buyers and owners.

Under a new city council initiative, called the Housing Preservation Initiative, Margert proposes to “scale-up” its existing anti-predatory lending and mortgage foreclosure prevention activities by expanding capacity to assist borrowers facing foreclosure, and engaging in preventive education and credit counseling. Through its existing partnership of community organizations, financial institutions, and city government, this initiative will:

• Reach hundreds of homeowners through an aggressive and targeted marketing campaign;
• Strategically build our capacity to assist aggrieved borrowers and engage in preventive outreach in our neighborhoods most affected by predatory lending;
• Provide legal referrals, direct counseling, and loan remediation to homeowners at risk of foreclosure who would not otherwise receive assistance; and
• Provide assistance in arranging financing for rehabilitation loans and other forms of loans, educate clients about credit repair, and improve their access to traditional credit.

The project will be carried out by the Housing Division of Margert Community Corporation, including: Joseph G. Barden, executive director; Stephanie Lawes, housing director; Cherise Forbes, housing counselor; Ivan Larios, housing counselor; Julissa Arias, Intake Supervisor; and a new outreach/intake staff person, to be hired from initiative funds.

Project staff will implement a collaboration designed to bring together the three key elements needed to combat predatory lending and prevent foreclosure – preventative education, financial and loan counseling, and loan and legal remediation – in a structured approach leveraged against our existing programs, services and partnerships.

The neighborhoods within the 31st district have been identified by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development as at high-risk on the basis of the level of risk and incidence of abusive lending practices and mortgage foreclosure rates, as well as the ability and capacity of local resources available to respond to these issues.

View the Outreach Flyer.

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