Step One

Assess The Foreclosure Situation

The first step in any community effort is assessing the foreclosure situation in your community. This will also enable you to target limited resources to foreclosure hotspots.

U.S. Credit Conditions in the United States

The New York Fed maintains a website with dynamic maps and data showing credit conditions by county across the U.S. These maps show delinquency rates for various types of credit including auto, bank cards and student loans in addition to mortgage loans. The maps may assist community groups in targeting financial counseling and other resources to at-risk homeowners. Policymakers can also use the maps and data to develop plans to lessen the direct and spillover impacts that delinquencies and foreclosures may have on local economies. Local governments may use the data and maps to prioritize the expenditure of their resources for these efforts.

Visit your Reserve Bank's website for research reports, data, and practical information, and/or contact your Bank's Community Affairs Office with specific requests.

National Delinquency Survey

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) provides quarterly reports on delinquency and foreclosure rates of loans at the national, regional and state levels. The MBA's National Delinquency Survey, conducted since 1953, covers 80 to 85 percent of all first-lien residential mortgage loans outstanding in the United States. Delinquency and foreclosure measures are broken out into various loan types (prime, subprime, VA and FHA) and fixed- and adjustable-rate products.

Regional and Local Data Resources

State laws require that notices of intent to foreclose real estate be posted for public view, although the exact posting process varies from state to state. These pre-foreclosure notices, along with actual foreclosure sales data, are compiled regularly by various companies who make the information available for sale. Some counties make maps and listings of property addresses available during the "publication" period prior to the foreclosure sale date. Contact a local title company in your community to get more information on the best local sources for pre-foreclosure and foreclosure sales reports.

Foreclosure Laws

Foreclosure laws and regulations are important to consider and can vary significantly across states. In some states with a judicial foreclosure process, the lender must take the borrower to court to seize the property. In other states, a nonjudicial foreclosure process requires no court action.

• U.S. Foreclosure Laws
• Foreclosure Laws and Procedures by State

Step Two

Reach Troubled Homeowners

Raise Awareness

Surveys show many at-risk homeowners often fail to seek help. They may be embarrassed or don't know where to turn. Stress can make dealing with credit problems even harder. Community leaders serve a crucial role by helping consumers find quality housing counselors at the first sign of trouble.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) maintains a database of HUD-approved counseling agencies. Additional information, including financing options, can be obtained from the Federal Housing Administration.

Community leaders can also reach borrowers effectively using homeownership events, public service announcements, brochures and websites.

Build Partnerships

One important way to strengthen foreclosure outreach is to build strong partnerships with existing state and local coalitions and task forces.

If there are no existing coalitions or task forces in your area, you can start one by reaching out to grassroots and faith-based groups, legal aid offices, housing counseling organizations, community development organizations, and city and state consumer protection departments. Ggood examples of state coalitions include:

• Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force
• Colorado Foreclosure Prevention Task Force
• Missouri Homeownership Preservation Network

Homeownership Events

Homeowner workshops and/or default clinics have proven successful in helping borrowers avoid foreclosure. They are held in accessible community locations such as convention centers, schools and public libraries. Sponsors invite troubled borrowers, issue media releases and post notices on websites and in public places.

Three basic models exist for effectively run workshops. They range from large events at which loan servicers and housing counselors meet face-to-face with borrowers to smaller events that are primarily educational in purpose.

• HOPE NOW Homeowner Preservation Workshops are typically held in large metro areas. They benefit from a national partnership with NeighborWorks America and an alliance with more than 25 lenders to allow borrowers to meet with loan servicers and housing counselors.
• Community Foreclosure Mitigation Workshops are typically hosted by a local coalition or task force. Local nonprofit counselors are on site to counsel borrowers. Lenders and servicers are often willing to participate in community events that are well-designed and marketed.
• Default Clinics are hosted by nonprofit credit and/or housing counselors as a way to triage distressed borrowers and streamline the default counselors' time. This model focuses on getting information to clients quickly to help them select the appropriate assistance needed.

Reach Out to Consumers

Community leaders are employing many direct approaches to reach troubled homeowners, making use of information and materials available from local and national organizations:

Public Service Announcements (PSAs)

• Foreclosure Help and Hope is a PSA campaign created by NeighborWorks America, the Homeownership Preservation Foundation and the AD Council.
• Loan Modification Scam Alert is an anti-foreclosure scam toolkit created by NeighborWorks America.
• 5 Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Scams provides consumer help from the Federal Reserve.
• Money Matters includes video PSAs from the Federal Trade Commission.
• Foreclosure Prevention offers radio scripts and PSAs on housing issues from the Comptroller of the Currency.

Educational Brochures

• Practical Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure is a sample local brochure based on information from HUD.
• Foreclosure prevention from Greenville County Human Relations, 2009.

Mailings, Flyers and Press Releases

• Foreclosure Hotline Card created for the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline
• Boston HOPE Now event

Local Community Partnership websites

• Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force
• www.kcforeclosurehelp.org

Public Television Partnerships

• The Economy: Facing the Mortgage Crisis
• Weathering the Financial Storm
• Facing the Mortgage Crisis
  St. Louis' KETC/Channel 9, the area's public television station, has been joined by 26 community partners to connect people at financial risk to the resources they need. This collaborative community effort is raising awareness of the impact of the financial crisis in the St. Louis region and helping individuals manage their financial challenges through on-air, online and personal assistance.

Access National Resources

A number of national organizations and government agencies maintain rich informational websites to assist communities and consumers in dealing with foreclosure issues, including prevention, mitigation, counseling, loan modifications, neighborhood stabilization and foreclosure-rescue scams.

Enterprise Community Partners: Is a national nonprofit with more than 25 years of experience in the community development and affordable housing field.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation: Is a national nonprofit that helps local organizations access national resources and expertise.

NeighborWorks America: Was created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance and training for community-based revitalization efforts. It supports a wide range of programs:

• The Center for Foreclosure Solutions provides information that helps counselors and community leaders connect with and advise troubled homeowners.
• The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program (NFMCP) provides grants to HUD-approved counseling intermediaries to expand their capacity to counsel at-risk borrowers.
• The NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education & Counseling works through the NeighborWorks Training institutes to provide regional and place-based trainings.
• Foreclosure Basics e-learning course, an online educational resource.

The Homeownership Preservation Foundation: Provides information and videos that explain alternatives to foreclosure and operates a national hotline-888-995-Hope (4673)-available in both English and Spanish. Callers can be referred to local nonprofit counseling assistance.

HOPE NOW Alliance: Is a national alliance of more than 50 lenders, loan servicers and counseling organizations dedicated to preserving homeownership and minimizing foreclosures.

• HOPE NOW members have agreed to a uniform set of procedures and guidelines to increase outreach to borrowers.
• HOPE NOW also partners with NeighborWorks America to conduct homeowner workshops.

Making Home Affordable: The Obama administration has introduced a comprehensive Financial Stability Plan to address problems at the heart of the crisis and help make monthly mortgage payments more affordable for troubled homeowners.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Provides consumer and community information and includes sample public service announcements for radio.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC): Provides consumers and community foreclosure assistance and links to foreclosure rescue and loan modification scam awareness resources.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors: Provides foreclosure-help resources to both consumers and communities. It also connects with all 12 Federal Reserve Banks.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: Provides links to consumer resources, government programs and government-approved, nonprofit counseling agencies.