NEW YORK, NY – December 10, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) – The State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) has received an additional Federal grant of $1.482 million to expand foreclosure prevention counseling efforts throughout New York State. The funds will be used to help 16 counseling organizations provide additional counseling and legal assistance to homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
In addition, SONYMA will provide a matching grant of $211,848 so that a total of $1.69 million will be available in new foreclosure mitigation funds.
The grant is the second round of Federal funding for foreclosure mitigation counseling. During the first round last spring, SONYMA distributed $747,718 in Federal funds plus a matching SONYMA grant of $124,772 to 20 not-for-profit organizations that provide foreclosure and counseling intervention.
“The scope of the foreclosure crisis continues to have a deep impact on homeowners, communities and our state’s overall economy,” said Priscilla Almodovar, SONYMA President and Chief Executive Officer. “We must do all we can to help homeowners at risk protect their mortgages and stay in their homes. These funds will enable counseling agencies to better meet the rising demand for help from owners. These grants supplement the efforts of Governor Paterson and the State Legislature to provide additional resources to counseling organizations.”
The Federal grants were funded by the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program. The program was created by Congress and administered through a competitive application process by NeighborWorks® America. The first round of grants were funded by part of the Federal budget. The second round was funded by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was passed by Congress in July.
The 16 nonprofits receiving funds for foreclosure prevention counseling are:
ACORN Housing Corp. NY (New York City)
Albany County Rural Housing Alliance, Inc. (Albany County)
American Debt Resources (Suffolk County)
Belmont Shelter Corp. (Erie County)
Better Neighborhoods, Inc. (Schenectady, Montgomery and Fulton counties)
Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation, Inc. (Western NY)
Brooklyn Housing & Family Services, Inc. (Brooklyn)
Brooklyn Neighborhood Improvement Association, Inc. (Brooklyn)
The Housing Council (Western NY)
Keuka Housing Council, Inc. (Yates County)
Long Island Housing Services (Long Island)
Nassau County Office of Housing & Homeless Services (Nassau County)
Parodneck Foundation (New York City)
PathStone Corporation (Rochester, Hudson Valley)
Putnam County Housing (Putnam County)
Rockland Housing Action Coalition, Inc. (Rockland County)
The grant to SONYMA, a State agency that provides mortgages to first-time homebuyers, will supplement New York State’s efforts to improve the capacity of counseling organizations to assist current and prospective homeowners.
The NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) is administering a $25 million program, funded by the current Enacted State Budget, to provide foreclosure counseling. And the NYS Department of Banking has committed $2 million for a grant program for consumer credit counseling and legal services.
The foreclosure crisis has had a major impact on New York State communities. According to RealtyTrac, in 2007 there were 57,350 foreclosure filings in New York State affecting nearly 39,000 homes, a 10% increase over 2006 and a 55% increase over two years before. Among the fifty states, New York ranked 27th for foreclosure filings last year and ranked 37th for the third quarter of 2008.
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NeighborWorks® America is an independent, Congressionally-chartered non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., with a mission to provide access to sustainable homeownership and safe, affordable rental housing.
SONYMA was created in 1970 with the mission of helping low- and moderate-income families become homeowners. It offers a variety of low down payment mortgages that provide below-market fixed interest rates, as well as closing cost assistance through a network of participating lenders across the state.
Contact: Philip Lentz
Director of Communications
212-872-0679
plentz (at) nyhomes (dot) org
