Margert in the News

Counseling Helps Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure, Study Finds
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Washington Post

Troubled homeowners who receive housing counseling are 60 percent more likely to avoid foreclosure and have their mortgage payments lowered significantly than borrowers who navigate the process themselves, according to a study to be released Wednesday.

The study, by the D.C.-based Urban Institute, examines the effectiveness of the government-funded National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program, established in late 2007 to counter growing foreclosure rates. More than $300 million has been awarded to 1,700 nonprofit housing-counseling agencies since December 2007 to hire staff and conduct outreach to troubled borrowers.

In the Washington area, HomeFree-USA in Maryland and the Latino Economic Development Corp. and the Greater Washington Urban League in the District have received funding through the program.

The study compared a group of borrowers who received help through housing counselors with a control group who did not. Clients who saw a housing counselor and received a loan modification from their lenders had their monthly payments reduced on average $454 more than those who did not receive counseling, according to the report. Borrowers already seriously delinquent on their loans were 60 percent more likely to avoid foreclosure after meeting with a counselor as those who didn't, the study said.

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State Awards $60.3 Million for Weatherization Programs
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Governor David A. Paterson today announced $60.3 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for weatherization projects that will work to reduce the energy burden on low-income residents in 9,431 multi-family housing units around the State.

"By targeting federal stimulus dollars to make the State's multi-family housing developments more energy-efficient, we can reduce energy consumption and residents' monthly utility bills, cut overall operating costs and make these buildings safer and more affordable," Governor Paterson said. "I applaud President Obama and the entire Congressional delegation for working to make this critical funding available."

Awards have been made to 12 new and existing weatherization assistance providers under the Division of Housing and Community Renewal's (DHCR) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Weatherization activities to be performed include: adding insulation and making buildings more weather-tight, updating heating and air conditioning systems, replacing inefficient appliances, and repairing and replacing windows. Awardees demonstrated the capacity to move quickly to weatherize entire portfolios of affordable multi-family buildings that include, for example: Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHC) developments, public housing, supportive and special needs housing, Mitchell-Lama developments, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted projects throughout the State.

DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen said: "DHCR's Weatherization Assistance Program has been making the homes of low-income families more efficient and affordable for years. Under Governor Paterson's leadership, we are dedicated to the full utilization of this program. This stimulus funding will be used to address the specific need for weatherization in multi-family housing that is most in need of updating. Because of this stimulus funding, these buildings will be more energy-efficient and safer."

In addition to its existing network of providers, DHCR helped form partnerships with new sub grantees who have worked to identify and address entire multi-family housing portfolios.

Funding highlights include:

$15 million to weatherize 2,143 units of LIHC and HUD portfolios in NYC. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Enterprise will form a partnership to deliver services and NYC's Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will provide support.
$9 million to weatherize 1,253 units of supportive housing and project-based Section 8 properties. The Association for Energy Affordability is partnering with the Supportive Housing Network of New York to weatherize units in NYC, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
$4 million to People's Equal Action and Community Effort (PEACE) to weatherize 800 units of Project-Based Section 8 housing in Onondaga and surrounding Central NY counties.
$3.1 million to weatherize 477 units of the Rural Development Section 515 multi-family portfolio. Genesee Valley Rural Preservation Council will serve as sub grantee to weatherize the units which are located in 65 buildings across 16 sites in Livingston, Wyoming, Erie, Monroe, Orleans and Genesee Counties.
$2.7 million to weatherize 424 units of a combination of Public Housing, LIHC, and Section 515 in Orange, Ulster and Dutchess Counties. New sub grantee Affordable Housing Concepts will provide WAP services.
$3 million for the Community Preservation Corporation to weatherize 418 units of multi-family affordable housing across the Central and Western NY regions.

View complete list of Weatherization Multi-family Building/Temporary Subgrantee Awards

Margert Community Corporation is a participant in the AEA / Supportive Housing Network multifamily weatherization partnership.

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Bank of America Delays Foreclosures in 23 States
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By Alan Zibel
The Associated Press
Friday, October 1, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Bank of America is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.

The move adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.

Bank of America isn't able to estimate how many homeowners' cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday. He said the bank plans to resubmit corrected documents within several weeks.

Two other companies, Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase, have halted tens of thousands of foreclosure cases after similar problems became public.

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Margert Community Corporation is a New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) Neighborhood Preservation Company, a HUD and HPD approved housing counseling agency and a partner with NEDAP and the Center for NYC Neighborhoods in protecting homeowners from foreclosure and predatory lending.

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Calls for Discretionary Funding Reform
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Yesterday was a rough day for State and City officials facing legal problems. In addition to Hiram Monserrate’s expulsion from the State State, City Council Member Lawrence Seabrook was indicted by the U.S. Attorney on charges revolving around his use of Council discretionary funds to finance a string of nonprofit groups that city and federal authorities say ultimately did little for the communities they were supposed to aid. Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn used the opportunity to call for further reforms to the City’s discretionary funding system.

“It is extraordinary to be here to announce the investigation and indictment of a New York City Council member, only seven months after the last arrest of a Council member, both of whom were charged with abusing their offices in various ways, including the abuse of discretionary funds,” said Gill Hearn, who used the opportunity to call for further reforms of the City Council’s discretionary funding system.

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