Study Shows Public Investment in Prevention Far Outweighs Costs of Foreclosure

A research study conducted by the Public Policy Research Center (PPRC) at the University of Missouri -- St. Louis found that 84 percent of homeowners who received counseling were successful in avoiding foreclosure. The study was commissioned by the Metro St. Louis Foreclosure Intervention Task Force, and the findings show that the costs of providing foreclosure counseling paid off dramatically.

PPRC studied 1,460 homeowners who were counseled by Beyond Housing, a St. Louis NeighborWorks organization. “This study proves what we had suspected all along; that even a modest investment in counseling pays enormous benefits by allowing homeowners to become current and keep their homes,” said Chris Krehmeyer, CEO of Beyond Housing.

View study at http://bit.ly/9ow3di

NeighborWorks America and Direct Lending Family Launch New Online Mortgage Origination System

NeighborWorks America and Direct Lending Family, a technology company committed to simplifying the mortgage origination process for nonprofit organizations, have teamed up to create NeighborWorks Mortgage Source, an online mortgage origination and pricing platform.

Direct Lending Family and NeighborWorks see this alliance as a national alternative to traditional local or regional lender options of most nonprofit mortgage originators. The national system reaches more than 100 lenders and state housing finance agency mortgage options giving consumers working with a nonprofit originator the greatest opportunity to obtain the best mortgage for their needs, no matter where they live.

“This is a fantastic development for nonprofit mortgage lending,” said Marietta Rodriguez, national director of homeownership and lending at NeighborWorks America. “By enabling NeighborWorks organizations to access the most diverse mortgage choices available around the country, we are able to help more homebuyers get the right mortgage for the long-term, at the best cost possible.”

While on the surface the Direct Lending platform appears similar to other multiple-lender internet services, Tammy Butler, CEO of Direct Lending Family says that conclusion is incorrect.

“The only similarity between NeighborWorks Mortgage Source and other online multiple-lender platforms is the fact that they are both online. Mortgage Source does not sell personal information to multiple lenders, does not let predatory mortgage products get into the system and provides the client with a complete and unbiased underwriting of their personal financial situation at a lower cost to the consumer than the national average.” said Butler.

Butler noted that NeighborWorks Mortgage Source is designed specifically to take into account during the underwriting process the possibility of multiple sources of cash to close, a typical situation when dealing with nonprofit mortgage originations which may see a homebuyer come to the table with funds from their own accounts and grants from as many as half a dozen other sources.

Importantly, homebuyers coming to NeighborWorks for mortgages go through its homeownership advisory services first, which in the past have shown to be very effective at lowering relative delinquency and foreclosure rates because of the NeighborWorks emphasis on obtaining the right loan at the right time and within the present budget.

“The homebuyers with whom NeighborWorks does business often are not traditional borrowers, but want traditional pricing,” said Rodriguez. “The flexibility of Direct Lending’s platform recognizes this and delivers for the many homebuyers that traditional underwriting overlook and who NeighborWorks helps achieve sustainable homeownership every day.”

Making Green Work for Our Communities

NeighborWorks Community Building and Organizing Gulf Coast Partners and Residents Unite to Talk 'Green'

More than 70 Gulf Coast resident leaders, activists, volunteers and community leaders from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana convened in Biloxi, Mississippi recently to talk green.

The purpose of the two-day workshop, led by NeighborWorks' Community Building and Organizing Programs (CB&O), was to connect community members with one another and share information on how to tap economic development opportunities from an emerging green economy.

“After the BP oil spill, communities along the Gulf Coast have been hungry for knowledge sharing and coalition-building to explore alternative livelihoods in the green industry," said CB&O Director Susan Naimark. "We learned that the various groups most impacted by the oil spill – particularly the Vietnamese, Native American and African-American communities – were not connecting with each other. We were thrilled and honored that NeighborWorks America could play a convening role to fill this void,” Naimark added.

CB&O Senior Program Associate Bernadette Orr, who organized the workshop, emphasized that community building and organizing is a critical component not only in building communities, but for maximizing on opportunities in a green economy.

“Community building relies on empowering residents to define what green is for their communities, and helps galvanize their energy, talents and abilities to create workable solutions,” said Orr. “Community-building and organizing helps change the hearts and minds of people by empowering them to become involved in not only defining the problem, but creating the solutions.”

Continue reading to learn how residents were inspired, energized and determined to take action.

Challenges Facing Nonprofit Developers

In a recent interview with Multi Housing News, Thomas Deyo, deputy director of NeighborWorks America's National Real Estate Programs, discussed the high cost of capital and other challenges facing nonprofit community development organizations. View video below. If you are having trouble with the player, view it here: http://bit.ly/97oZlU.

NeighborWorks Passes One Million Volunteer Hours Mark

NeighborWorks organizations around the country helped generate more than one million volunteer hours in the last five years, building stronger, vibrant, and more connected communities. Combined through the five years, ending with September 30, 2010, volunteers partnering with NeighborWorks organizations put in more than 1.14 million hours, including more than 322,000 hours this year, the largest number reported by member organizations of the Community Building and Organizing Program (CB&O) at NeighborWorks America.

Learn more and view examples that illustrate the success of community building and organizing.