By Kay Scrimger
June 27, 2005

Chaired by Columbus (OH) Mayor Michael B. Coleman, the Community Development and Housing Committee met on Saturday, June 11.

Coleman reported to the committee members on the Campaign to Save the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.

Presentations before the committee focused on two major areas: transformation of vacant and abandoned property into affordable housing; and Chicago's strategies to help citizens keep their homes.

Fannie Mae Foundation President and CEO Stacey D. Stewart praised mayors for their leadership in innovative strategies to create more affordable housing. She noted that the "hidden community asset of vacant and abandoned land" is one challenge for many cities as well as "a potential opportunity."

"Many mayors have developed strategies to turn vacant and abandoned properties into revitalization opportunities by creating affordable homes and rebuilding distressed neighborhoods into livable, vibrant communities," she said.

Giving positive examples from Rochester, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Richmond, and Chicago, Stewart noted that vacant property revitalization is a cycle of preventing abandonment, stabilizing properties, identifying and developing a resource for rehabilitation, property transfer for demolition, and implementing long-term revitalization strategies.

Stewart pointed out that cities can prevent abandonment in the first place by building the capacity of property owners and managers to provide housing, strengthening housing inspection programs, proactive code enforcement, creating community-oriented policing partnerships, and preventing foreclosure and other destabilizing forces.

Stewart announced a grant from Fannie Mae Foundation to the Conference of Mayors to support research and analysis on best practices that cities have undertaken to meet the challenge of vacant and abandoned properties and transform them into affordable housing. The grant will also support development of a Mayors' Resource Guide on strategies and tools for mayors in addressing abandonment and linkages to the KnowledgePlex, the affordable housing on-line resource sponsored by Fannie Mae Foundation.

Jack Markowski, Commissioner of the Department of Housing of the city of Chicago, and Bill Apgar, Senior Scholar, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University, discussed homeownership preservation.

Markowski discussed Chicago's Home Ownership Preservation Initiative (HOPI), designed to preserve sustainable home ownership for Chicago residents and to reclaim foreclosed housing stock. The program's three year goals are to 1) counsel 3,000 families in danger of foreclosure; 2) help 1,500 homeowners avoid foreclosure; and 3) reclaim 300 foreclosed properties.

At the first sign of mortgage delinquency, homeowners can call 311 City Services ("Every minute counts!") line to be immediately connected with credit counselors, who can provide an assessment, offer counseling, serve as a liaison between homeowners and the lender, and provide referrals to local resources.

Results have been impressive. Foreclosures have dropped. From January 1, 2004, to May 31, 2005, 843 homeowners in Chicago completed a counseling session. An estimated thirty'seven percent of those counseled have been able to stay in their homes or were able to sell their home within a year of received services. It is estimated that this has yielded some $38 million value for Chicago. In one-and-one-half years, 1200 families have avoided foreclosure, and 175 buildings have been rehabilitated and put to produced use.

Bill Apgar, Senior Scholar at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, discussed the collateral damage of foreclosures and the social damage of the loss of homes on families and on neighborhoods and communities.

"Direct municipal costs," he said, can range from a few hundred dollars to over $30,000 per case. Concentrated foreclosures may bring down neighborhood property values.

Apgar stressed the value of community-based initiatives, like Chicago's Home Ownership Preservation Initiative, to help stop foreclosures before they start. He emphasized that efforts must be made to encourage municipalities to better manage the foreclosure process and to insist that industry participants pay their fair share.

The Community Development and Housing Committee passed the following eight resolutions:

#24: Strongly Supporting the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program;

#26: Ending Chronic Homelessness: Endorsing Innovative Policies to Successfully Implement Plans to End Homelessness;

#28: Streamlining the Definition of Homelessness in America;

#29 Full Funding of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program;

#31: Opposition to Weakening the Community Reinvestment Act;

#32: Promoting Homeownership, Community Revitalization and Affordable Housing through the Single Family Homeownership Tax Credit;

#33: Support for Federal Legislation to Strengthen Homeowner Protections from Abusive and Predatory Lending; and

#91: Supporting the Reauthorization of a Federal Terrorism Insurance Program.

The USCM also passed at the Business Session on Monday, June 13, the following resolution: Visitability Opportunities for People with Disabilities.