Foreclosure and homelessness not perfect together!
by Richard Brown Ending Homelessness Add commentsWhich state was 14th in the number of foreclosures in 2007? Yes it is New Jersey. According to a new report from the National Coalition for the Homeless entitled Foreclosure to Homelessness: the Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis, on page 28 we find New Jersey listed with a total of 53,652 filings in 2007. This is up 234.06% from 2006 and 52.75% from 2005.
In addition, according to the Star-Ledger “New Jersey had the nation’s 16th-highest state foreclosure rate during the first quarter, with one in every 265 households receiving a foreclosure filing, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings were reported on 13,104 New Jersey properties during the quarter, up 66 percent from the first quarter of 2007 and nearly 34 percent from the previous quarter. ”
The Monarch Housing Blog! Had posted a request to participate in the survey by the National Coalition for the Homeless on foreclosure and homelessness. This report is a result of that survey and related research. To read the full report click here.
Foreclosure to Homelessness: the Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis summarizes the findings of that survey. Some of the most salient findings were:
61 percent of survey respondents reported an increase in homelessness in their communities since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007.
Respondents reported a variety of living arrangements among the newly homeless victims of the foreclosure crisis, including stays with family and friends, in emergency shelters, and on the streets.
Among the recommendations were “rather than create a new homeless prevention program, at least a $300 million in new appropriations should be immediately allocated to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). EFSP would provide an effective rent and mortgage relief mechanism, which are among the eligible uses of EFSP. These additional funds would be targeted to rent relief and other expenses related to housing. Funds would be used to supplement but not supplant existing public funding for homeless prevention. It is imperative that the distribution formula for this new allocation not be based solely on unemployment figures, but also includes foreclosure data and other measures of poverty in the locality receiving these funds.
To read the full report click here.
Tags: Ending Homelessness, foreclosures, subprime crisisRelated Monarch Blog posts
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July 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
[...] ever since the wave of foreclosures began in 2007. According to a study released in April by the National Coalition for the Homeless, 76 percent of homeowners and renters displaced by foreclosures are moving in with relatives and [...]