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Florida Housing Finance Corporation Receives Foreclosure Mitigation Grant!

On Feb. 26, NeighborWorks^® America announced that $130 million has been awarded to 32 State Housing Finance Agencies, 16 HUD-approved Housing Counseling Intermediaries and 82 community-based NeighborWorks organizations, to provide counseling to families and individuals facing the threat of foreclosure. In total, more than 700 local counseling agencies and local NeighborWorks organizations have been listed as partners and participants in this effort. It is estimated that 350,000 to 400,000 families facing the threat of foreclosure will be directly assisted with this funding – and many more will be helped by the training of foreclosure counselors, provided through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program -- an initiative funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008.

The Florida Housing Finance Corporation received a grant of $1,015,389 which will be targeted in communities with the greatest number of potential foreclosures, such as rural parts of the state, Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Ocala, Orlando, Naples, Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, among others. Nearly 24,000 homes in these areas are at risk of foreclosure. An additional $280,000 was granted by NeighborWorks^® America to 4 of its Florida Affiliates. FLACDC congratulates its members Miami/Dade Neighborhood Housing Services, Centro Campesino Farmworker Center – Dade County, CDC of Tampa and Neighborhood Housing and Development Corp. – Gainesville.

A subsequent funding pool of $37.8 million will be awarded later this year.

In other foreclosure news, Governor Crist has created the Home Ownership Promotes the Economy (HOPE) taskforce on Feb. 20 in Tallahassee. The HOPE Task Force will bring together experts in the mortgage and banking industries as well as consumer advocates and policy experts to review Florida’s foreclosure rate and its impact on the State’s economy. The Task Force will meet during March and April and is expected to present its recommendations to state leaders by April 18. If you would like more information, please contact the Florida Housing Coalition at www.flhousing.org.