Realtors Say Minorities Face Foreclosure Threat.

Washington -- Alarmed that the housing downturn is having a disproportionate impact on minorities of all shades, groups of Hispanic, Asian and African-American real estate professionals have put forth a five-point action to protect people of color and prevent a roll-back in their homeownership gains over the last half-dozen years.

"Our communities are at great risk," said NAHREP chair Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano. "We must work collaboratively with lawmakers to save distressed homeowners and preserve options for future buyers."

The plan calls for the creation of a national foreclosure prevention fund to help distressed borrowers. In addition, it would prevent lenders from moving to repossess homes until they could show they took "all reasonable" steps to contact borrowers and provide them with a full spectrum of workout options and loan modifications.

The initiative, which was put on the table late last month at the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals' annual legislative conference here, also calls for a "declining market's second mortgage fund" to stimulate demand and stabilize prices in neighborhoods and communities where more than the normal number of foreclosures have taken place.

The junior liens should be interest free, the groups said, and should be repayable on a sliding scale as prices appreciate over a five-year period.

NAHREP was joined in recommending the plan by the Asian Real Estate Association of America and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers. It is the first time the three organizations, which together have more than 70,000 members, have presented a united front on an issue of such magnitude.

The groups are largely concerned that if current mortgage default ...