Housing Counseling Equipping Those at Risk of Losing Their Housing to Stay In It - PowerPoint Presentation

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Housing Counseling

Equipping Those at Risk of Losing Their Housing to Stay In It

South Central PA

Housing Recovery Summit

York, PA April 29, 2014Slide2

Staff of Tabor Community Services

Roger Steffy – Vice President for Programs

Lowell Jantzi – Division Manager for Financial and Homeownership CounselingContact Information: Tabor Community Services, Inc. 308 East King Street, P O Box 1676 Lancaster, PA 17608-1676 717-397-5182 www.tabornet.org

Presented By:

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Founded in 1968 – 46 years of service to Lancaster City and County

Provides an array of programs and services focused on Housing and Financial Stability

Serves about 4000 clients per yearTabor’s Mission: “To help strengthen our community by giving people the tools and inspiration to meet their housing and financial challenges”A Snapshot of Tabor3Slide4

Emergency Shelter Consumer Credit Counseling

Homeless Outreach First Time Homebuyer Services

Rapid Re-Housing Matched Savings ProgramsRental Counseling Mortgage Default CounselingTransitional Programs Reverse Mortgage CounselingFinancial Education Workshops TLCVeterans’ Victory House Homeless PreventionPermanent Supportive Housing Supportive ServicesMental Health Housing programsSupportive Services for Veteran FamiliesCommunity Homeless Assessment and Referral Team

Tabor Programs and Services

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Client driven approach

Personal detailed budgets for each client

Follow up with client after counseling sessionEmphasis on financial educationRetain experienced, certified staffDevelop community supportPartnershipsVolunteersDonations

Effective Strategies and Practices

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For Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention

Patience and persistence – it can be a long process

1½ - 3 hour counseling sessionOptions availableAction Plan of steps to takeSend in applications (HEMAP, loss mitigation) only when fully completeExperienced counselor – 25 yearsAsk homeowner to keep us informed – we continue to provide assistance throughout process

FY 12-13: 173 households received mortgage counseling89% avoided foreclosure

Prevention Counseling for Homeowners

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Serves homeowner and renters

Develop Debt Management Plan (DMP) to pay off unsecured debt – up to 5 year program

Monthly statement to clientMonitor client progress to maintain consistent payments to creditorsFY 12-13: 675 households counseled$2 million of debt paid back to creditorsPractices Specific toConsumer Credit Counseling

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Practices Specific to Supportive Services in Affordable Housing Complexes

All residents of the complex are potential clients

Close collaboration with property manager is essential to promptly identify and offer services to those whose housing may be in jeopardyBudgeting, good neighbor skills, tenant rights and responsibilities, fostering communityKnowledge of community systems to help access eligible services and benefits – food banks, Social Security, Dept. of Public Welfare, Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Office on Aging, etc. These can be essential to maintain rental housing.Prevention Counseling for

Renters

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Rental Counseling to Prevent Homelessness

Key Components for effectiveness

Detailed budget and financial counselingExplore underlying causesNegotiation with the LandlordBoth advocacy and accountabilityEmpower client decision makingExplore likely consequences of various optionsFinancial assistance if available can be helpful but only if budget is sustainable

FY 12-13: 103 households served

90 % of those households avoided homelessness

Prevention Counseling for

Renters

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Important considerations:

Generally, the earlier someone seeks help the more effective the counseling is likely to be

Many clients think financial assistance is essential, but often it is not – budgeting and financial management skills are the crucial tools for successThe funding landscape is changing for prevention counseling for renters facing eviction. National Alliance to End Homelessness and HUD prioritizing rapid re-housing over prevention. Some funders cutting funding for prevention servicesWhat We are Seeing in the Field10Slide11

Serious shortage of rental housing in Lancaster County – especially affordable rental housing

According to 2013 Housing Market Study, occupancy rate for all rental housing in Lancaster County is 95%

For affordable rental housing, occupancy is 97%.That is a typical vacancy rate of only 5% and 3% - very difficult to find rental housing – rents are increasingRegional banks are developing low income mortgage productsMortgage servicing rules are now standardized across servicers - Expect this will expedite loss mitigation decisions and benefit homeownersWhat We are Seeing in the Field

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Questions?

Thank you!

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