Points of light amid foreclosure funk
By John McCarron
LISC New Communities Program
Home prices keep falling and mortgage foreclosures keep rising.
A new study on renters, meanwhile, counts 12,334 apartment buildings going into foreclosure during 2009-2010 and with them a whopping 37,726 rental units. LISC/NCP neighborhoods were among the hardest hit, with five losing more than 200 rental buildings just during 2010: Humboldt Park (284), Logan Square (253), Little Village (231), Englewood (218) and North Lawndale (203.)
So if you’re looking for good news on the housing front this summer in Chicago, good luck. There isn’t much … but there is some.
The federal government is moving to improve its under-performing Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) by prodding mortgage lenders and servicers to move faster and even reduce balances owed to reflect the declining market. Meanwhile, the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), managed by Mercy Portfolio Services, is restoring dozens of foreclosed and vacant homes and is having success selling them to new owners at affordable prices.
Sure, the HAMP and NSP efforts are but a trickle against foreclosure’s grim flood. But they’re a start. And every small victory has important lessons on how foreclosure-fractured neighborhoods can get back on their feet.
East Garfield Park glimmer
Consider the three sturdy houses in East Garfield Park newly rehabbed by the Community Male Empowerment Project (CMEP) with help from the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, the LISC/NCP lead agency there.
CMEP leader Melvin Bailey says he recruited young men from the neighborhood to work alongside skilled tradesman on the rehab of 3352 and 3412 W. Walnut St. and 327 N. Central Park Blvd.
“The idea is to teach young men skills so they can move forward with their lives,” Bailey said. “Other young men in the neighborhood see our guys working a trade and they get the idea they could too.”
The Walnut Street houses already have been sold to mortgage-capable families on discounted terms set by Chicago’s NSP Program and the Central Park building will go on the market shortly. A more complete description of the program—and a more detailed story on the East Garfield Park rehabs—can be found at http://www.chicagonsp.org/news/962
“We’re 3 for 3,” said Bailey of the rehabs. “And we’re talking to some banks about scaling up … taking on more houses and turning this into a real training program.”
That would be a welcome win-win for Mike Tomas, the NCP director at GPCA.
“This way the neighborhood gets more than just a fixed-up house,” Tomas said “You help youngsters learn along the way. Like everything we do in NCP, it’s a more comprehensive strategy.”
Read more