Street roots
11
June 8, 2012
Homeowners facing foreclosure need accurate information
BY JANET BYRD
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
Janet Byrd is the
executive director of
Neighborhood
Partnerships and
convener o f the
Housing Alliance.
The Housing
Alliance brings
together advocates,
local governments,
business interests and
all others dedicated to
increasing the
resources available to
meet our housing
needs to support a
common statewide
legislative and policy
agenda.
stable place to call home gives people
the chance to build a better life for
themselves and their families. The
thousands of Oregonians facing the
uncertainty of foreclosure have new hope for
stability because of recent legislative action.
One out of every five Oregon homeowners
is “under water” and owes more on their
home than it is worth. One out of 11 is
either in default or is 30 days late on their
mortgage payments. These financial strains
have repercussions throughout families and
communities. Foreclosures are a drain on
physical health, and the stress makes family
life harder. Because owning a home plays
such an important role in maintaining a
household’s financial stability, foreclosures
have impacts for many years on family
opportunities and prospects, including
education and employment. Communities
are hurt by foreclosures as well - by vacant
homes, a loss of community vitality, and
decreased home values. The recent Street
Roots cover story (“Boarded up,” M a y ll)
highlighted the problems caused if these
vacant homes are not maintained.
Two big steps were taken in Salem that
offer hope: important policy changes that go
into effect next month, plus new resources
available to homeowners. Together, these
have the potential to shift the balance and
start Oregon down the path to more stable
families and communities.
In early March, in the last hour of the
legislative session, policy makers came
together to pass Senate Bill 1552, which was
then signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber
on April 11. This monumental legislation will
address the overwhelming tide of
foreclosures which has been threatening to
permanently undermine the foundations of
our state. It provides homeowners facing
foreclosure with new tools and access to
accurate information which will help equip
homeowners to make good decisions about
their future.
In May, the Legislature met in Salem for a
few days of work. They took another big step
forward on this issue and approved a
A
spending plan for part of the $29.25 million
that the state received this spring as part of
a settlement of a national lawsuit against five
large banks. Together, the policy changes
plus the monetary resources will create a
complete system to protect homeowners
from bad practices and give them access to
needed resources, information and
assistance.
The legislation goes into effect on July 11.
After that date, homeowners will be able to
ask for a mediation session before their
homes can be foreclosed upon. The goal of
mediation is to help both parties come to an
informed decision, and to resolve the
situation without going through the trauma
and expense of foreclosure.
Before mediation, both homeowners and
lenders will share information with each
other, and homeowners will get information
about their options and prospects from a
housing counselor. Not every homeowner
will get to stay in their home, but we expect
that many will benefit from the many
programs and resources that have been set
aside to help with refinancing or with paying
down mortgage balances. Homeowners that
do end up losing their homes will have more
notice and hopefully will be able to negotiate
a smooth transition.
Access to understandable and reliable
information about options may sound
unremarkable, but homeowners facing
foreclosure need accurate and high quality
information most of all. There have been so
many changes in who mortgages and how,
and so many alternate solutions proposed,
that many folks have given up trying or lost
track of changes. Information as simple and
critical as which bank owns a mortgage may
be hard to find. Mediation will help
homeowners get the information they need
and will give them access to someone from
their lender who is empowered to make
decisions about their loan. This simple step
has been missing for too many homeowners
for too long.
Neighborhood Partnerships and the
Housing Alliance are working hard with all of
our partners to ensure that homeowners will
be able to access the information and
resources they need, when they need it.
Together, we have envisioned a system with
five parts:
1. Coordinated, strategic outreach to
homeowners to inform them about their
options and help them access the services
they need.
2. Counseling to homeowners through
certified foreclosure counselors.
Homeowners can learn more about the
basics of foreclosure and their rights and
responsibilities, and go on to access one-on-
one counseling sessions and assistance
preparing for mediation.
3. Mediation with their lender and a
neutral third party mediator. The law
guarantees access to mediation. Mediation
can help homeowners understand and
realize their options — whether that’s staying
in their home, selling through a short-sale,
or another option that best meets their
needs and circumstances.
4. Legal assistance for homeowners with
lower incomes who need legal advice for
more complicated circumstances.
5. Connecting homeowners to other
available assistance programs, and ongoing
evaluation about what is working for Oregon
homeowners and communities
The new foreclosure law has great
potential to positively impact thousands of
homeowners across Oregon. Together we
can create a system that fully utilizes the
policy changes and settlement dollars to
benefit homeowners in need of assistance
and help stop the negative effects of
foreclosure on our communities, our
economy and our state.
The Legislature’s action in May to provide
the initial resources to this system is a huge
victory. The Department of Justice and
Oregon Housing and Community Services
had requested a first investment of $9
million, and will receive $7.6 million. Our
plan is to return to the Legislature and
report on our progress in September, and
request additional needed funds in
December. We assume that the Legislature
will once again rise to the challenge and take
action for Oregon communities.
Community planning process needs balance of social justice
BY ROB SADOWSKY
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
ost cities do not enter into a
comprehensive community decision
making process to install
transportation projects. Projects are
designed and built with little to no
involvement from
_
_
neighborhood
w w B f V fO F
residents and
business owners.
Here in Portland,
,
we go the extra
M
SIKS1TBS1T
w f
Transportation
Alliance
Healthy Streetbeat is a
monthly column for
Street Roots written by
the Bicycle
Transportation
Alliance (BTA). Our
contributors are Rob
Sadowsky, executive
director, and Margaux
Mennesson,
communications
director.
mile t0 engage
community
representatives in
planning, design
and
implementation of transportation concepts
and specific projects. There are a host of
great reasons why this makes sense and
another host of great reasons why
community engagement is frustrating.
On the positive side of the scales, each of
us has an opportunity, if we choose, to get
involved. We can attend community meetings
of our neighborhood association and review
proposed plans for important projects like
the Portland Milwaukie Light Rail or the 50s
Bikeway. Projects have changed, expanded,
and even completely stopped because
citizens have stepped up and voiced their
ideas and concerns.
Residents and business owners gain a
greater understanding of transportation
networks in their neighborhood and are
more likely to keep new facilities in good
shape if they feel more connected to the
project. Our needs can be better addressed
when we voice them clearly.
On the negative side of the scales, not all
users of a specific street live or work in the
neighborhood. What of their concerns and
needs? A community process can give more
voice to local residents than other important
users such as truck drivers, bus operators,
and other travelers. Some projects are
considered of such importance that
neighborhood residents’ needs and concerns
can be lost in others’ needs and concerns.
The Columbia River Crossing project is a
classic case where residents might argue
that we have defined to broadly the key
stakeholders who advise on the project.
After living in Chicago for 21 years, I
prefer our model to that where community is
not engaged in the planning of
transportation projects; where leaders get
their power not from voting citizens but from
the bigger checkbook. It might take more
time than our planners and engineers like. It
might take more effort to go back to the
drawing board when original plans need to
be changed to meet the needs of the
community. Ultimately, we will have a
transportation system that is more likely to
be healthier and meet our growing needs.
We do have serious risks in our
community planning that we should always
pay attention to: planning only for current
residents fails to take into account future
needs and unless we make special effort to
integrate the needs of disenfranchised
community members, we run the risk of
creating transportation systems that assist in
exclusionary policies. There is a significant
battle being drawn in Clackamas County
right now over the future of public transit. A
group of citizens are calling for a halt on
spending any funds for transit, potentially
putting a halt to future active transportation
in the region. These
citizen groups seek
to protect their own
Projects have champed,
interests and vision
for the county as well expanded, and even
as question the
completely stopped because
expenditures of
citizens have stepped up a a i
public funds toward
voiced th e ir Ideas and
transit. I argue that
this is shortsighted
concerns«
and will put a halt to
a future region that
allows for more
people to participate in the economic
benefits and beauty that is in Clackamas
because of a transportation system that
benefits those who can afford to drive and
penalizes those that do not.
So we have a challenge. We need to fit
future planning and the broader social
benefit into these community plans. We can
do that by establishing clear outcomes and
goals that meet those needs. We can do that
by ensuring those who have fewer resources
have opportunities to be engaged, not
ignored. We can do that by getting involved
ourselves and voicing our own concerns and
keeping issues of social justice in and not
out. Join the healthy streets movement an
become engaged in a project near you.