Albany, NY – September 24, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — Governor David A. Paterson today announced a total of $3,495,000 in grants as part of New York’s continuing efforts to address the subprime mortgage crisis. This brings the total grants awarded this summer to $9.4 million. Consistent with the previous grants announced in July and earlier this month, the grants announced today will be provided to non-profit agencies for homeownership assistance and foreclosure prevention counseling, advocacy and legal services. Governor Paterson has repeatedly demonstrated that addressing the mortgage crisis is a priority of his administration, exemplified by the passage and signing of historic subprime legislation this summer and supported by these grant programs.
“In recent weeks it has been demonstrated in dramatic fashion that government can be called upon to help the largest of banks or businesses in times of financial crisis, but we also have an obligation to help out individual homeowners. These grants will help some of the most distressed New Yorkers keep their homes,” said Governor Paterson. “By assisting individual homeowners, we can strike at the root of what started this national fiscal crisis. Foreclosures are sometimes unavoidable, but they are bad for the business that makes the loan and even worse for the borrower who loses their home. We need to take every step possible to stop unnecessary foreclosures from happening, for the good of our entire economy.”
The New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) awarded $2,776,000 from the State’s $25 million Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program to six non-profit organizations around the State to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure. Additionally, the Banking Department awarded $719,000 in grants to nine agencies to provide foreclosure prevention services from a $2 million settlement fund from prior Banking Department enforcement actions.
Commissioner of DHCR Deborah VanAmerongen said: “These grants will help address a critical situation which has hit New York particularly hard. Our not-for-profit partners across the state are helping to save families at risk of foreclosure, many of whom were the victims of predatory lending methods.”
Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York Richard H. Neiman said: “We congratulate the grant recipients for the important role they will play in educating homeowners who are struggling to maintain their homes and are threatened with unnecessary foreclosure. These grants are another example of how New York continues to take the lead in addressing the foreclosure problem in many ways including legislation, counseling forums, data gathering, and advocating inter-agency and inter-state cooperation.”
The six organizations awarded grants from DHCR are:
- $705,000 to Nassau Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc., which will partner with Long Island Housing Partnership, CDC of Long Island, Nassau County Housing and Homeless Services, and Long Island Housing Services to expand existing education, financial counseling, and legal services in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
- $516,000 to Community Development Corporation of Long Island, which will partner with Central Islip Civic Council and Nassau Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc. to expand existing foreclosure prevention services in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
- $180,000 to Opportunities for Chenango, Inc., which will partner with the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York to implement a foreclosure prevention program in Chenango, Otsego, Delaware, and parts of Broome and Madison Counties.
- $350,000 to Rockland Housing Action Coalition, Inc., which will partner with the Legal Services of Rockland county to provide homeowners in Rockland and Orange counties with a full spectrum of housing counseling and legal services to help avoid foreclosure.
- $660,000 to Hudson River Housing, Inc., which will partner with Rural Ulster Preservation Company, Rural Sullivan Housing Corp., and the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to provide homeowners in Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties with foreclosure prevention services such as outreach, education, and legal services.
- $365,000 to New York ACORN Housing Company, which will expand existing foreclosure prevention services in all five boroughs of New York, as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
DHCR’s Housing Trust Fund Corporation has worked with the Banking Department, Office of Court Administration, and HFA/SONYMA to develop a continuous open window RFP for not-for-profits seeking funds under the Program. Proposals for funding will be accepted continuously until all program funds have been disbursed.
For more information on the program and to access a list of organizations around the state that have received public funding to provide foreclosure prevention services, go to www.nysdhcr.gov.
The nine organizations awarded grants from the New York State Banking Department are:
- $100,000 to the Home Save Coalition, consisting of four housing agencies and two legal services programs to provide foreclosure prevention counseling, legal services and community education to homeowners in the Capital District including Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties. The Affordable Housing Partnership is the lead agency and is collaborating with the Albany County Rural Housing Alliance, Better Neighborhoods Inc., Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (TRIP) Inc., Homeownership Center, Empire Justice Center and Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.
- $100,000 to Homefront Inc., a housing counseling and community development organization, to provide foreclosure prevention counseling and legal services and to expand public awareness of foreclosure issues in the city of Buffalo and Erie County. Homefront will collaborate with Western New York Law Center.
- $100,000 to Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union to provide foreclosure prevention counseling in collaboration with Home HeadQuarters, Inc., a NeighborWorks housing counseling agency, to homeowners in the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County.
- $100,000 to the Housing Council, Inc., to provide foreclosure prevention counseling and legal services in collaboration with the Empire Justice Center to homeowners in Rochester and Monroe County.
- $100,000 to Buffalo Urban league to provide direct foreclosure prevention counseling and increased public awareness in the city of Buffalo and Erie County.
- $100,000 to Keuka Housing Council, which will partner with Community Action in Self Help (CASH) and Legal Assistance of the Finger Lakes to provide foreclosure prevention counseling, legal assistance and community education for homeowners of the Finger Lakes, including Seneca, Yates, Ontario and Wayne Counties.
- $50,000 to Belmont Housing Resources for Western New York to provide foreclosure prevention counseling and legal services and to expand community awareness in the Greater Niagara region encompassing Erie, Niagara, Wyoming, Genesee and Orleans Counties. Belmont will be partnering with the Legal Aid Bureau and Legal Services for the Elderly.
- $44,000 to Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation and Improvement Corp. to provide foreclosure prevention counseling to homeowners in Chautauqua County and to engage in a public awareness campaign.
- $ 25,000 to Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York to provide community legal education, advice and legal representation to low income homeowners in Fulton County.
