New York, September 26, 2012 – The New York Mortgage Coalition (NYMC), a non-profit organization that helps low-to moderate income New Yorkers become homeowners and prevent foreclosures, today announced that eight of its affiliate community housing agencies were awarded grants from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office. The grants will be used by NYMC’s community housing agencies to assist distressed homeowners with foreclosure prevention and other related services.
Community housing agencies provide a variety of free services, such as one-on-one counseling to help distressed homeowners assess their options and educational workshops that link homeowners with counselors, bank representatives, defense attorneys and other sources to provide information about foreclosures. Importantly, many of these community housing agencies also assist homeowners with the mortgage modification process by accompanying them to settlement conferences to help in negotiations with banks.
Given the persisting foreclosure crisis, coupled with the unstable economy and high unemployment rates, it is expected that the need for these community housing services will continue to grow in New York City, particularly in the outer boroughs, Long Island and Westchester, where the number of pre-foreclosure notices exceeded 194,000 last year alone, according to a report by the Neighborhood Economic Development and Advocacy Project.[1]
“The grants awarded by Attorney General Schneiderman’s office will go towards providing much-needed support to the many struggling New York homeowners who have been affected by the interminable foreclosure crisis,” said Ken Inadomi, Executive Director, NYMC. “Despite common misperceptions, that the New York metropolitan area has come out largely unscathed during the foreclosure crisis, the fact is that more than 12,000 foreclosures were filed in 2011 across this area. Unfortunately, the number of foreclosures in 2012 are expected to be even higher based on a rise in default filings. We are confident that the services provided by our community housing agencies will have a significant impact in improving outcomes for families that are affected by these daunting conditions.”
The following NYMC community housing agencies were awarded grants by Attorney General’s Schneiderman’s office: Asian Americans For Equality Community Development Fund; Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation; Chhaya Community Development Corporation; Housing Action Council; Long Island Housing Partnership; Neighbors Helping Neighbors; Northfield Community Local Development Corporation and Pratt Area Community Council.
“The grant funding we received will enable our organization to expand its services by adding more staffing and other resources, enabling us to potentially serve hundreds of homeowners in Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties,” said Rose Noonan, Executive Director, Housing Action Council. “This is a major step forward for all those who are affected by foreclosures and in need of counseling services, and we commend Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for his leadership and efforts in making this much-needed funding available.”
About New York Mortgage Coalition
New York Mortgage Coalition is a non-profit collaboration of financial institutions and community housing agencies that provide needed services to low- to moderate-income New York area families, such as workshops and one-on-one counseling for first-time homebuyers, as well as foreclosure prevention counseling and neighborhood stabilization programs.
[1] http://www.nedap.org/resources/documents/NEDAPForeclosuresinNYS_WhatsGoingOn.pdf
