For Immediate Release

February 27, 2006
Contact: Becky Fleischauer, 202-220-2360

Shoring Up Homeownership in the Midst of Record Foreclosures

(Washington, D.C.) — Within the last five years, nearly three million households in the U.S. have experienced foreclosure. To address the factors that contribute to foreclosures and some of the most promising strategies to avert foreclosures, NeighborWorks America® will host a research and solutions roundtable in Washington, D.C. on March 3rd.

The roundtable will feature effective triage strategies that help homeowners on the brink of losing their homes avert foreclosure. New research from Atlanta, where foreclosures have more than doubled over the last few years, will also be presented. The research demonstrates the relationship between abusive lending practices, high-minority concentrated neighborhoods, the credit quality of borrowers, and foreclosures. Marina Peed, executive director of Atlanta-area NeighborWorks organization The IMPACT! Group, will talk about the strategies her organization is deploying to avert foreclosures. Bruce Gottschall, executive director of NHS of Chicago — a NeighborWorks organization — will discuss Chicago’s success in stemming a rising tide of foreclosures.

As the largest certifier of homeownership education counselors, NeighborWorks strives to ensure that homebuyers are able to keep their homes and build equity by understanding the terms of their mortgage and actions that increase home values. “We must do all we can to ensure that homeownership is not built on quicksand,” said NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade. “This is particularly important with the explosion of subprime and predatory lending and just the overall increase in homebuying at prices that are outpacing incomes.”

WHO: NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade
FDIC Director and NeighborWorks America board Chair Thomas J. Curry
Leading housing researchers Michael Collins and William C. Apgar
NeighborWorks organization leaders from Atlanta and Chicago
Homeownership Preservation Foundation President Walt Fricke

WHAT: Leadership roundtable on foreclosure prevention strategies

WHEN: Friday, March 3, 2006 from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm

WHERE: NeighborWorks America
1325 G Street, NW
Washington, DC.

WHY: Foreclosures are tragedies for individuals, but they also have harsh
consequences for entire neighborhoods, community economies and lenders. Just one or two boarded-up houses can send a residential block into a downward spiral, driving down property values, increasing crime and sapping economic growth. This roundtable provides a forum for identifying patterns in foreclosures and effective solutions for preventing foreclosures.

About NeighborWorks America

NeighborWorks America provides financial support, technical assistance and training for communities across the nation, including the NeighborWorks network – a nationwide network of more than 240 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities across America. These organizations engage in revitalization strategies that strengthen communities and transform lives. In the last five years alone, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $10 billion in reinvestment and helped more than 780,000 families of modest means purchase or improve their homes or secure safe, decent rental or mutual housing.