With the country’s attention zeroed in on the foreclosure crisis in single-family housing, little notice is being paid to how difficult the market has become for the nation’s non-profit housing developers to bring new affordable rental housing on-line, or to rehabilitate substandard apartment units.

An informal survey of members of the NeighborWorks Multifamily Initiative, a group of nonprofit apartment developers and managers with more than 65,000 units under ownership, suggests that while times are tough for the single-family market, they are no less difficult for multifamily housing. View press release.

More than 200 counselors from organizations around the country registered for up to five days of foreclosure intervention counseling training delivered by NeighborWorks America through its Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling April 14-18. The training is part of NeighborWorks America’s national effort to equip counselors in communities around the country with the information they need to assist families facing foreclosure. The training is provided as part of the $180 million in funds appropriated by Congress to strengthen foreclosure counseling services across the country. Learn more.

On April 16, NeighborWorks CEO Ken Wade was one of 15 witnesses sharing various views on a House bill that would require loan mortgage servicers to contact and work with borrowers on the brink of foreclosure. In his testimony before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Wade called for more loan modifications, refinancing and other flexibility on the part of mortgage lenders and servicers, as well as more foreclosure prevention counselors in areas of highest risk. On April 10, Wade also testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies. His testimony focused on the precipitous rise in foreclosures and the essential role that FHA and others have to play in providing tools to not only keep families in their homes, but also advance more sustainable, livable communities.

View Wade's complete House testimony

View Wade's complete Senate testimony

President Bush visited the Novadebt counseling center in Freehold, New Jersey on April 4  to meet with housing counselors who are helping struggling homeowners and discuss the housing market. He also met with a homeowner who successfully avoided foreclosure because of the hard work of NeighborWorks network member Brand New Day, Inc. (Elizabeth, NJ). NeighborWorks America Director of National Homeownership Programs Marietta Rodriguez and mortgage counselor Penny Meredith of Brand New Day participated in the meeting.

View President’s speech

View NeighborWorks America news release

On March 27, U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (CT) visited Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of New Britain, a NeighborWorks America member organization in Connecticut, to discuss his efforts to address the housing crisis. Dodd’s tour stop to the organization was part of an effort to promote his Hope for Homeowners Act that would create a housing-security program to help with buyouts of existing mortgages, so those who face foreclosure could pay mortgages at modified interest rates. Learn more

House Financial Services Committee chairman, Congressman Barney Frank (MA), visited NeighborWorks network member organization Portland Housing Center, on April 18 and spoke to an audience of housing advocates about his committee's work to ease the subprime crisis. Congressman Frank's bill, the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act would revise the Federal Housing Administration's underwriting standards to allow the hardest-pressed homeowners to qualify for government-backed loans. This voluntary program would permit FHA to provide up to $300 billion in new guarantees to help refinance at-risk borrowers into viable mortgages. For those communities hard hit by foreclosures, the Committee approved a $15 billion loan and grant program for local governments to purchase foreclosed homes. Learn more.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Steven Preston has been selected to succeed outgoing HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, whose resignation took effect April 18, 2007. Prior to joining SBA, Preston was executive vice president of The ServiceMaster Company. Earlier, he was a senior vice president and treasurer of First Data Corp., and an investment banker at Lehman Brothers.  He was sworn in as SBA administrator July 11, 2006. Preston’s reputation of steady management, a strong financial background, and good relations with Capitol Hill will help according to SBA sources. The prior Deputy Secretary for HUD has been named Acting Secretary, pending Steven Preston's confirmation by the Senate.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Award recognizes exemplary developments that meet workforce housing needs in high cost communities. To be eligible for this award, the development must:

• Be completed or in stabilized construction and be financially viable
• Include at least 25 percent of the total units affordable to families making between 60 and 120 percent of area median income (AMI)
• Be located near major centers of employment and/or transportation hubs
• Consist of at least 25 units
• Be located in the United States

Learn more about additional eligibility criteria, how to apply, schedule and fees from ULI.

As the demand for experienced and knowledgeable foreclosure counselors increases, the need for additional or enhanced training is critical to build capacity among housing counselors. To help busy practitioners get the valuable training they need to keep pace with growing demand, NCHEC will soon offer an e-learning foreclosure basics course. From office desktops or home computers, practitioners will be able to learn mortgage lending procedures, including loan origination, loan servicing and collections. Course participants will be able to supplement this e-learning course with on site learning opportunities available at a NeighborWorks Training Institute or a place-based training event in their region. NeighborWorks will announce further details on how to register for, participate in and complete this valuable learning tool in May.

Recognizing that we could bring greater efficiency to our own reporting, and could provide enhanced information management tools to the homeownership counseling industry, in 2005, NeighborWorks America began extensively researching  opportunities  to consolidate existing technical tools used in the industry.  As a result, we recently acquired CounselorMax from EMT Applications. CounselorMax automates administrative tasks and record-keeping associated with housing counseling, including outreach and intake efforts, scheduling and tracking consumer classes  and reporting.  For CounselorMax users, operational transition has been seamless – all current support will continue remain available.

In 2008 NeighborWorks America, through the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC), will concentrate heavily on web-based business applications for the counseling industry.  Special attention will be given to data collection, measurement and existing client management systems.  The purpose is to better understand business processes, create efficiencies, identify system gaps and train counselors on how to effectively use such systems.   In addition, a specialized foreclosure module will be developed for CounselorMax to enhance the existing system.  For more information about CounselorMax, please visit www.counselormax.com.   

NeighborWorks Training division is continuing to make improvements to its Web pages to help community developers, homeownership educators and housing counselors find the tools and information they need. Content on the training homepage has been streamlined to focus immediately on training and certification options, upcoming training events as well as news and updates from the NeighborWorks training division. Please go to the training web site to check out the new look and to learn more about our next month's Training Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the symposium Stabilizing Communities in the Wake of Foreclosure.