Photo By John HoffTonight, about 15 volunteers gathered at the Urban League to receive information packets and "rap sheets" before door-knocking at North Minneapolis addresses known to have subprime loans originated in 2007.
Media were on hand, including a reporter from the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, Twin Cities Daily Planet, a film crew from 612 Authentic and (of course) this blog.
The "rap sheets" contained talking points about mortgage counseling, gearing to avoid inducing alarm while making sure those in need of help were given contact information to avoid foreclosure.
Before organizing into teams, volunteers watched "role playing" by two teams, one of which included yours truly starring as a slightly-cranky homeowner with hard-to-admit mortgage problems. Volunteers were organized to make sure individuals familiar with the neighborhood were paired with those who didn't know the terrain so well. There was no shortage of vehicles.
The influence of ACORN on the volunteer effort was in evidence everywhere. One team of volunteers who assembled for a photo was asked, "What neighborhood are you going into?"
"ACORN'S NEIGHBORHOOD!" one answered, and the others laughed in agreement.
The door-to-door effort was expected to take approximately 3 nights, including tonight. The subprime mortgages in question are from a very specific period of time, and so the numbers are more limited than one might suspect, making the effort quite manageable. For example, there are only 8 such mortgages in the Hawthorne Neighborhood. The lists in usage are known to be quite up-to-date.
As volunteers put on hats and gloves, and went out into the cold and dark winter night, I was oddly reminded of a volunteer search party seeking out the body of a crime victim. It seemed to me that success might be measured in saving only one family from the loss of a home, but if that happened, it would be worth approximately three evenings of effort by a dozen volunteers.
I watched from a vehicle as Jeff Skrenes and his team member visited the three houses on their list of eight. The first house on Third Ave. N. had a Hmong family who spoke no English and appeared to be renters. Language appropriate resources will be sent to the house in the future.
The second house had a man who was a renter, but had no interest in talking. At the third house, no lights were on except what appeared to be the dim light of a television in one back room. Nobody answered, but Jeff Skrenes was able to determine the name on the mailbox was different than the mortgage holder so, once again, probably a renter. Information was left at the house...not in the mailbox, of course, but on the doorknob. One goal of the program is, of course, to help renters avoid sudden, unexpected evictions in the wake of foreclosure.
More details about the "Hawthorne Arms Defense Program" will appear on this blog as they become available.
(Do not click "Read More")
Media were on hand, including a reporter from the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, Twin Cities Daily Planet, a film crew from 612 Authentic and (of course) this blog.
The "rap sheets" contained talking points about mortgage counseling, gearing to avoid inducing alarm while making sure those in need of help were given contact information to avoid foreclosure.
Before organizing into teams, volunteers watched "role playing" by two teams, one of which included yours truly starring as a slightly-cranky homeowner with hard-to-admit mortgage problems. Volunteers were organized to make sure individuals familiar with the neighborhood were paired with those who didn't know the terrain so well. There was no shortage of vehicles.
The influence of ACORN on the volunteer effort was in evidence everywhere. One team of volunteers who assembled for a photo was asked, "What neighborhood are you going into?"
"ACORN'S NEIGHBORHOOD!" one answered, and the others laughed in agreement.
The door-to-door effort was expected to take approximately 3 nights, including tonight. The subprime mortgages in question are from a very specific period of time, and so the numbers are more limited than one might suspect, making the effort quite manageable. For example, there are only 8 such mortgages in the Hawthorne Neighborhood. The lists in usage are known to be quite up-to-date.
As volunteers put on hats and gloves, and went out into the cold and dark winter night, I was oddly reminded of a volunteer search party seeking out the body of a crime victim. It seemed to me that success might be measured in saving only one family from the loss of a home, but if that happened, it would be worth approximately three evenings of effort by a dozen volunteers.
I watched from a vehicle as Jeff Skrenes and his team member visited the three houses on their list of eight. The first house on Third Ave. N. had a Hmong family who spoke no English and appeared to be renters. Language appropriate resources will be sent to the house in the future.
The second house had a man who was a renter, but had no interest in talking. At the third house, no lights were on except what appeared to be the dim light of a television in one back room. Nobody answered, but Jeff Skrenes was able to determine the name on the mailbox was different than the mortgage holder so, once again, probably a renter. Information was left at the house...not in the mailbox, of course, but on the doorknob. One goal of the program is, of course, to help renters avoid sudden, unexpected evictions in the wake of foreclosure.
More details about the "Hawthorne Arms Defense Program" will appear on this blog as they become available.
(Do not click "Read More")
What if it turns out that the majority of these properties are owned by "investors?" People who bought the properties to rent out who are going to allow the properties to foreclose because they turned out to be a bad investment (or were intended to be only a short term investment but they got stuck with them). It's good that the renters know but other than that, these people you are trying to help may not turn out to be innocent victims but just one more link in the long line of scammers (Irene Thomas?) who have wrecked our neighborhoods and now are looking to get bailed out by the federal government just like the banks and everybody else. I hope you're successful in your quest to help some folks stay in their homes to stabilize the neighborhood but color me skeptical.
ReplyDeleteI guess we don't know what's out there with these 2007 ARMs until something like this outreach is attempted. But if people are skeptical and want to outline their thoughts, I'm happy to sponsor that kind of a discussion on this blog.
ReplyDeleteI hung around for a while after we got back from our somewhat uneventful venture into Hawthorne. (By the way, the 8 mortgages were from one quarter of 2007 in Hawthorne. We'll be getting the other 3 qtrs. later in the week) There were numerous instances where folks did get in touch with owners and renters in need of help, and even got referrals to neighbors that somebody knew had concerns with their mortgage. Especially considering this was a first effort and we weren't sure what we'd find, I consider this a resoundingly successful first step.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to cross check the data with county property records to see if they are listed as homestead? Or with rental licenses? Or are both those data bases too out of date to make that even worthwhile?
ReplyDeleteMargaret...it's my understanding they do actually know which ones are homesteads, but I'd have to double check with Jeff.
ReplyDeleteHomestead data isn't what it used to be. The difference between homestead and non-homestead property taxes is pretty low right now so some owner-occupants don't go down to the county to register. And then there's the flipside where some folks fraudulently register as homesteaded. I'm not sure if we've pulled that data, although it is very easy to get and our CURA researcher next semester may compile it. For what we are doing, it makes more sense for us to simply be prepared for both owner-occupants and renters as we hit the doors.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that there would be quite a bit of the illegal or temporary renting going on. Especially since the city has additional fees now on top of rental licence fees for converting housing from homestead to rental. There is probably no way to separate out the issues out other than what you are doing with the knock and talk. Like so many of these problems, the situation is always more complicated on the ground.
ReplyDeleteI know you have to use the 2007 data because that is what you've got, but in 2007 many more people must have known about the dangers of ARMs, than say, two years earlier when most of my neighbors who foreclosed did. That would make the 2007 people more of a self-selected group than your average subprime borrower. Either more desperate or less risk averse. The investors would fall into the latter category because either way, they can make some money for awhile.
In some respects, the horse has left the barn. We lost a lot of good neighbors in 2006-2007. And the deal is that if you had given them all the ability to refi on better terms, not all of them would have stayed. That's to say the forclosure wasn't the only factor in their dumping the house. One had a teenaged daughter who was getting into worse and worse trouble as she got older. The Mom decided to move out of state where she had more relatives who could help her raise the troubled daughter. Another one had a house with a lot of problems she couldn't afford to fix. Another guy bought the house at the top of the market as a temporary thing right after a divorce then couldn't sell it. These people's problems weren't related to their loan but to the housing price bubble burst and glut of houses. In a normal market, they could have done what my next door neighbor did in 2005--sell his house to another homeowner. Just my experience here. I will be interested to see what you find.