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New Regional Partnership Helps Nonprofits, Agencies Prevent Foreclosures

Freddie Mac recently helped launched the Capital Area Foreclosure Network, a major effort to prevent foreclosures in the Washington region.

The Network will help housing counseling and legal services agencies better serve struggling borrowers, as well as renters affected by the foreclosure crisis. It brings together stakeholders from local governments, nonprofits, foundations, banks and the private sector to coordinate foreclosure prevention efforts and build the capacity of counseling agencies.

The Network will provide free training for housing counselors as well as outreach to local borrowers in distress. Freddie Mac organized the Network's first training, attended by nearly 100 housing counselors, in March. Upcoming programs include a May 6 conference to help counselors address the needs of renters impacted by foreclosure. And, a roundtable later this spring will bring together foundations, other funders and nonprofits to examine resources to combat the problem. As part of its outreach efforts, the Network has published a "Mortgage Late, Don't Wait" brochure in several language, along with a brochure for renters.

"Freddie Mac is pleased to join our partners to build a strong foreclosure prevention network," said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Freddie Mac's executive vice president of Community Relations. "This partnership will help local nonprofits and government agencies leverage resources and information to best serve struggling borrowers."

Marian Siegel, Executive Director of Housing Counseling Services, a D.C. nonprofit, said the Network will give her housing counselors new and better tools to respond to each household's needs.

New Study on Regional Foreclosures, Trends

The Network will also help provide research on the foreclosure crisis in our region. An Urban Institute study, funded by the Network, will be released in June and updated quarterly. Preliminary results show that 3% of mortgages in our area are in the foreclosure process, nearly double the national average, while 9% are delinquent. That translates to almost 150,000 households in our region, or one in ten mortgage holders who are behind on their mortgage. Arlington, at .9%, has the lowest percentage of delinquent mortgages, while Prince George's County, MD, has the highest at 6%.

The Urban Institute study also found that local housing counseling agencies served an average of 423 clients last year, a 77 % increase since 2007.

Network partners include the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments; the Nonprofit Roundtable; the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs; Fannie Mae; the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Baltimore Branch; the Latino Economic Development Corporation; and NeighborWorks America.

For study results and Network opportunities, please visit CapitalAreaForeclosureNetwork.org.