Non-Profit Tracks Pressures of NYC's Economic Crisis on Housing and Home Ownership in the City

Non-Profit Tracks Pressures of NYC's Economic Crisis on Housing and Home
Ownership in the City
Homeowners Cite Loss of Income as Primary Cause of Foreclosure Risk, Not
Mortgage Crisis

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the Center for New York City
Neighborhoods, Inc. (CNYCN), data collected over a 13-month period reveals
that of 4,652 homeowners who sought free mortgage counseling through the CNYCN
network, 2,103 (45%), cited loss of income as the main reason for their
mortgage delinquency. In addition, of the 1,429 requests for a loan
modification by homeowners, only 330 (23%) were completed within the reporting
period, July 2008 through August 2009.

Since July of 2008, CNYCN has provided housing counseling and legal services
to 5,300 homeowners through its network of nonprofit partners. By carefully
recording data from these intermediaries, CNYCN is able to document larger
trends in the city's foreclosure crisis. For additional information of charts
showing this data, visit www.cnycn.org. Key findings over the past year
include:

-- 5,300 homeowners sought community-based counseling through the CNYCN
network regarding financial difficulties;
-- 4,652 specifically said they were experiencing mortgage distress. Of
these, 2,103 (45%) said that loss of income was the source of their
difficulty and 1,380 sought legal advice regarding a housing issue;

-- 1,429 homeowners requested assistance in submitting a mortgage
modification request, but only 330 (23%) resulted in a loan
modification
from a lender; 1,099 were pending.

CNYCN is an independent non-profit created in 2008 to address the local
repercussions of the national foreclosure crisis. CNYCN works with and
provides funding for more than 30 nonprofit, community-based organizations
that assist homeowners in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island and
Manhattan. CNYCN grew out of efforts by local leaders, including Mayor Michael
R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, to create a systemic
response to rapidly rising mortgage defaults and foreclosure filings,
particularly in communities hardest hit by subprime and other unconventional
loan products as well as job loss. New Yorkers seeking assistance can be
connected directly to CNYCN telephone operators by calling 311 and simply
saying "foreclosure." They will then be directed to free, reputable service
providers in their communities.

"The data from these counseling sessions provides a sobering look at housing
trends in communities around the city with high levels of economic distress,"
said Michael Hickey, Executive Director of the Center for New York City
Neighborhoods. "It also demonstrates that our work has just begun, with much
more to be done in terms of providing the information and resources needed to
help homeowners remain in their homes."

The data captures services homeowners requested when they visited CNYCN's
network partners' locations. By far the greatest need was housing counseling.
For example, nearly 2,014 clients received assistance with budget planning and
more than 1,400 received assistance submitting a loan modification request.
Still, only 23% of those modification packages submitted actually resulted in
a formal modification plan being offered by the bank by the time the data
collection period ended.

Other housing counseling services needed were assistance with submissions of
hardship requests, counseling and referrals for legal services, initiation of
forbearance agreement/repayment plans, assistance with credit repair/credit
reporting efforts, and referrals to another social service or emergency
assistance agency.

"Homeowners still experience delays and report poor service from the loss
mitigation teams at the banks, and we are continuing to make every effort to
ameliorate this unfortunate situation," said Mr. Hickey. "Through its unique
partnership with community-based organizations, CNYCN is helping to set the
stage for housing recovery in New York City's neighborhoods. A key element in
this effort is our ongoing work with lenders and service providers to help
them become more responsive to the needs and financial condition of troubled
homeowners whose loans have become unaffordable due to the economic downturn."

CNYCN also tracked information about legal services that were provided to
consumers. In a total of 1,380 advice and counsel sessions, legal assistance
providers offered representation at settlement conferences, non-litigation
advocacy, referral to housing counseling, litigation, private counsel or other
advocacy, help obtaining a pro bono representative, and bankruptcy assistance.

The report also noted the results of the allocation of additional resources to
CNYCN's network partners. CNYCN had awarded grants to network partners across
the City, leading to an increase in services due to the hiring of more than 70
new foreclosure prevention specialists: 30 legal professionals (18 attorneys
and 12 paralegals), 43 counseling staff (28 counselors and 8 support staff),
and seven more outreach workers.

The Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN) is a nonprofit organization
whose mission is to provide free housing counseling and legal services to New
York City residents at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. CNYCN is
funded by grants from the New York City Council and the NYC Department of
Housing Preservation & Development as well as from foundations, corporations,
lenders, and banks.

CNYCN partners with over 30 nonprofit, community-based organizations. New
Yorkers can call 311 and be connected directly to CNYCN telephone operators by
simply saying "foreclosure." They will then be directed to free, reputable
service providers in their communities. For more information, visit
www.cnycn.org.

SOURCE Center for New York City Neighborhoods

Petra Tuomi of CNYCN, +1-646-786-0884, +1-551-358-7672 cell, ptuomi@cnycn.org