National Housing Conference Updates State Site.(Conference news)

Washington -- HousingPolicy.org, the National Housing Conference online guide to state and local housing policy options, has expanded with new foreclosure prevention features that enable users to access updated information on how to preserve housing affordability among communities across the country.

The goal, NHC said, is to help reduce the negative effect of the ever-rising tide of defaults and foreclosures, as well as to provide information on how to manage so-called real estate-owned properties and restore abandoned houses which often cause depreciation in their communities.

"State and local governments are taking an increasingly active role in foreclosure prevention," said Jeffrey Lubell, executive director of the NHC research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy.

"While part of the reason is certainly to protect owners and renters from the loss of their home, the reasons extend beyond that. The tools and resources available on HousingPolicy.org provide states and localities with information on how other communities are working to help avoid the often steep costs of foreclosures, prevent losses in homeownership and rental occupancy, and stabilize a malfunctioning mortgage market."

Center for Housing Policy analysts believe the extended information will help communities be more efficient when dealing with the needs of residents at risk of foreclosure.

One successful example of state-level prevention, according to the NHC website, is the Chicago Home Ownership Preservation Initiative, "an early example of a one-stop approach to foreclosure prevention that includes both counseling and research efforts" to prevent foreclosures now, reduce risk in the future, and mitigate the damage. Administered by Neighborhood Housing Services, the initiative prevented over 1,300 foreclosures in its first three years.

While the national debate over best tools to combat foreclosures is heating up, renters living in foreclosed properties are not part of the discourse, even though they suffer the consequences "and also impose substantial costs on municipalities and neighborhoods," NHC said.