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Mayor's Weekly Column
From the Desk of Thomas M. Menino
06/29/09
Boston has been a recognized leader for our proactive local strategies to combat the national foreclosure crisis. Since launching our foreclosure prevention initiative in 2006, we’ve worked one-on-one with residents to educate homeowners and homebuyers. We’ve brought borrowers and lenders together to address mortgage concerns. We’ve fostered collaboration between police, public works, and residents to provide stronger services in neighborhoods most affected by foreclosure. And over the past year we’ve partnered with non-profit organizations and community developers to acquire foreclosed properties and revitalize them for responsible homeownership.
Just last week we learned of some positive statistics that demonstrate that our efforts are paying off. After Boston experienced a 73% increase in foreclosures in 2008 compared to 2007, numbers for the first half of 2009 provide reason to be hopeful. For the first time since 2005, foreclosures are on the decline in Boston. In fact, compared to the first five months of 2008, foreclosure rates are down 22% this year in our city, and based on the available numbers, we’re projecting an overall decline of about 17% by year’s end.
These figures are reassuring, but to maintain the progress that we’ve achieved, we have more hard work ahead. While we’ll continue to educate residents about responsible borrowing, we also need to make sure that individuals and families faced with the threat of foreclosure are adequately protected. At the outset of the foreclosure crisis, my administration worked with our partners on Beacon Hill to provide homeowners and renters with a 90-day workout period, so that those facing foreclosure have time to work out an agreement with their lenders or find other housing options.
I’m pleased that leaders in Washington D.C., aided especially by the hard work of Senator Kerry and the Massachusetts delegation, have taken up this issue on a national level by recently passing legislation to provide tenants and families across America with protections similar to those in place in the Commonwealth. Foreclosures in one community have a ripple effect on housing in every community, and if Boston’s progress can provide any insight, these new protections will go a long way in stemming the tide of foreclosures at a national level.
The next step is to make sure that people know and understand their rights as tenants. That’s why I’ve directed my staff at the Rental Housing Resource Center to go door-to-door in high foreclosure neighborhoods to explain to residents the options that they have if they’re living in a house that is in danger of being foreclosed.
Positive indicators show that foreclosures may be declining in Boston, but their effects on the market are still being felt. My administration will continue to fight for tenant rights and build on the progress that we’ve achieved with our Foreclosure Intervention Team, which has helped more than 575 homeowners avoid foreclosure, preserving over $170 million in home values.
Funding through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, for example, will help strengthen our efforts to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties. I’ve seen first hand the great impact that this direct assistance can have on struggling neighborhoods. Hendry Street in Dorchester is the perfect illustration of significant progress achieved in a short amount of time. Just over a year ago, when we began acquiring troubled properties, there were 16 real estate owned properties in the Hendry Street area. Today, there is only one.
By continuing to create strong partnerships across levels of government and with the private and non-profit sectors, we’ll make sure that all of our neighborhoods are able to bounce back from the foreclosure crisis to offer Boston’s families strong housing options for generations to come.
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