FDIC Appoints Ellen Lazar as Senior Advisor for Consumer Policy

NeighborWorks America congratulates former NeighborWorks America Executive Director Ellen Lazar on her appointment as senior advisor for consumer policy to FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. In this new position, Lazar will advise the Chairman on issues relating to the corporation's consumer policy and programs.

Chairman Bair, in announcing the appointment, said, "Ms. Lazar's long and distinguished career has been focused on community development and consumer protection. Her expertise and experience in these areas will contribute significantly to the FDIC's consumer programs and policy development."

Lazar was executive director of NeighborWorks America from 2000-2003. Read more about Lazar’s appointment.

Foreclosures Grind On as Lenders Fail to Modify Loans

Today, USAToday reported that efforts to reduce foreclosures have been beset by backlogs and delays, leaving many overstretched homeowners uncertain whether they'll keep their homes or lose them shortly. The article highlights data from NeighborWorks America’s recently released report to Congress on the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program. While the report shows that more than 400,000 homeowners have been helped through the program, it also details slow response times of up to 45-60 days on the part of servicers.

Read USAToday article.
See NeighborWorks release.
Download NFMC report.

HUD Offers $58 Million for Housing Counseling

HUD has announced that more than $58 million is available for a broad range of housing counseling programs to help families find and preserve housing. The funding is an increase of $11 million, or 23 percent, over last year. These grants will be awarded competitively to hundreds of HUD-approved counseling agencies and State Housing Finance Agencies that offer a variety of services including how to purchase or rent a home, how to avoid foreclosure, how to improve credit scores, and how to qualify for a reverse mortgage. View HUD news release. Access funding announcement and application.

National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program Helps More than 400,000

NeighborWorks America, the administrator of the Congressionally authorized National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program, announced today that through May 31, 2009 more than 405,000 homeowners have received foreclosure prevention counseling as a result of NFMC funding.

The report found that more than 90 percent of homeowners receiving counseling were still in their homes as of February 2009, although 18 percent of those families had a foreclosure process started. Six percent of families counseled had a foreclosure completed and another 3 percent had their mortgage paid off through a refinance, short-sale, or deed-in-lieu. Read more:

Press Release
Report Description [PDF, 56 KB]
Executive Summary [PDF 129 KB]
Full Report [PDF, 4.1 MB]

National NeighborWorks Week Engages Thousands in Volunteer Community Service

Approximately 170 NeighborWorks organizations hosted 340 events nationwide during National NeighborWorks Week, which was held from June 6-13, 2009. NeighborWorks Plants!, this year’s thematic event, attracted 100 NeighborWorks organizations to beautify their neighborhoods with trees, flowers and shrubs. By the end of the week, thousands of people from across the country had donated their time and labor to help make their communities better places to live, work and play. See pictures and stories of the volunteers at work.