Sitting at the epicenter of politics, it can sometimes be difficult for leaders in Washington to get a true sense of the homeowner’s struggle. Of course, you can point to statistics. More than 15 million homeowners are underwater and owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. Meanwhile, there have been two million foreclosure filings this year, and millions more families are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. Nobody can deny that the outlook is bleak. But we cannot look at statistics to provide the answers; we need to examine the communities most severely impacted by the crisis to get at the heart of the matter and design a recovery strategy.
That’s why 150 homeowners, faith leaders, and housing advocates, including representatives from several of NCLR’s housing-focused Affiliates, convened at the White House yesterday to discuss possible solutions to the market challenges. These advocates shared personal stories about how their communities have been devastated, and more importantly, they offered strategies for resolving the problems that they see plaguing their communities.
While a variety of solutions were put forth during the half-day meeting, some of the more prominent included the need for principal reduction for families facing foreclosure, methods of ensuring the accessibility of safe credit products, and tactics to rejuvenate communities where foreclosures have caused blight and safety issues.
We appreciated the opportunity to speak with the White House and to give homeowners a platform to share their experiences. These firsthand accounts are critical to understanding what is truly going on in our neighborhoods. This meeting also provided an important venue to highlight recovery models that have been successful and can be taken to scale.
We look forward to a continued effort from the White House to improve the housing market and are very committed to working with them to develop concrete steps that will mend our communities and revive our economy.