Foreclosure listing prevention and mitigation efforts are being stepped up in the states of New Jersey and Ohio by nonprofits that have developed more effective ways to prevent and mitigate foreclosures.
In Franklin, New Jersey, the Central Jersey Community Development Corporation has partnered with Atlanta-based APD Solutions to buy distressed mortgage loans in bulk and then work with homeowners to resolve their financial problems while the nonprofit holds the mortgages.
The partnership will also buy vacant foreclosed homes in bulk and then convert them into affordable housing units to be sold to displaced families, low- and moderate-income households and renters who are buying their homes for the first time.
The nonprofit corporation was formed in 1992 by Reverend DeForest Soaries Jr., senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens. Over the past few years, Soaries and his staff have been looking for ways to help families save their homes from foreclosure.
In September this year, Soaries met with Vaugh Irons, the chief executive of APD Solutions and a former executive at Freddie Mac. APD Solutions is an investment company that provides investment capital to fund community development projects in 20 states.
A public-private partnership was formed and was funded with $25 million by APD to help the nonprofit corporation restructure distressed home loans and rehabilitate foreclosure listing properties.
Soaries planned to help around 625 families using the $25 million provided, allocating $40,000 to each of the families to save their homes. He also hopes to raise another $25 million using the initial APD funding and ultimately raise $400 million next year to do more community development work.
Meanwhile, in Middletown, Ohio, a center for distressed homeowners with mortgage loans will be opened by Cleveland-based nonprofit named Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People. Executive director Mark Seifert said that his nonprofit will staff the center with foreclosure prevention experts who are paid up to $35,000 annually.
The nonprofit, also known as East Side Organizing Project, started as a safety committee in a Cleveland neighborhood, but it has grown to become one of the biggest foreclosure prevention organizations in Ohio, with 62 employees and 12 offices across the state.
What sets ESOP apart from other foreclosure prevention fighters is its use of aggressive tactics, such as staging protests against lenders and posting the phone numbers of executives of banks that own abandoned properties.
According to Seifert, his nonprofit’s tactics have enabled his staff to get the attention of mortgage services and increase their foreclosure listing prevention success rate to 85 percent.
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