.::.Housing Action Illinois .::.

Another Hole Appears in Safety Net for People Experiencing Homelessness
Survey Shows Funds for Homelessness Prevention Not Available This Winter in Half of Illinois Communities

November 21, 2011—Agencies that administer homeless prevention grants across Illinois report that 55% of them will run out of funds by Dec. 31, leaving no help for families facing homelessness, according to a statewide survey released Monday.

In 11 years, the state's homeless prevention grant program has helped 96,231 Illinois households avoid homelessness. The average grant in FY 2010 was $916, and 88% report they remained housed four months after getting the one-time grant.

But state budget cutbacks have decimated the program, leaving just $1.5 million available this year - $9.5 million (87%) less than was funded in FY 2008.

Meanwhile, federal stimulus funds that have offset state funding cutbacks are also running out, with 56% of agencies saying those federal funds are depleted.

Moving or Moving Up?: Understanding Residential Mobility for Housing Choice Voucher Families in Illinois

April 7, 2011—There has been a longstanding belief by communities outside of Chicago that scores of voucher holders from Chicago – particularly former residents of Chicago’s public housing – moved into their communities since the Chicago Housing Authority began demolishing buildings in 2000.

Data from 2000 – 2007, which covers the majority of the time when CHA high rises were being demolished, shows Chicago voucher holders representing a small percentage of the ports into most jurisdictions during this 8 year period.

The report makes 17 recommendations, which, if properly executed, could to some extent improve choice for voucher households.

Mortgage Loan Servicers Need To Be Held Accountable
Data in New Report Demonstrates that Homeowners Wait Far Too Long for Loan Modifications

November 16, 2010—A new report released today by Housing Action Illinois provides additional evidence to support the position that mortgage loan servicers in the Chicago metropolitan area are:

Not agreeing to affordable loan modifications for the great majority of homeowners facing foreclosure.
Not committing sufficient resources to respond to homeowners in an accurate and timely manner as required by the directives for the Home Affordable Modification (HAMP) program and other federal loan modification programs.

The report was completed as part of Housing Action Illinois’ Servicer Accountability Initiative (SAI), which collected data on cases from 661 individual homeowners working with one of ten HUD-certified counseling agencies in the Chicago metro area between December 2009 and September 2010.

For ten different servicers, Housing Action compiled the number of cases that were approved and denied for a loan modification, as well as the number of pending applications. Four servicers accounted for 80% of all total cases: Bank of America (31%), JP Morgan Chase (22%), Wells Fargo (14%), and CitiFinancial (13%).

Of the 516 loan modification applications submitted, 44% were approved, 16% were denied and 40% of the applications were still pending as of the end of September. However, when the counselor indicated what type of modification was provided, they were overwhelmingly Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) temporary loan modifications, not permanent loan modifications.

While federal HAMP program directives require that servicers must acknowledge receipt of the application within 10 business days and respond within 30 calendar days with an approval of a trial modification, a denial of a modification, or a request for more information this is simply not occurring.

To address the low percentage of permanent loan modification approvals and the high number of pending cases, the report makes 24 specific recommendations in the following areas:

Mortgage loan servicers need to: (1) provide clear and consistent means for communication between homeowners, housing counselors, and servicers throughout the loan modification process; and (2) increase their capacity to respond to loan modification applications in an accurate and timely manner.
The federal government needs to: (1) more effectively respond to complaints related to servicer compliance with HAMP; (2) make changes to the HAMP program in order to make the program more effective and fair; and (3) develop means for holding servicers accountable for not complying with HAMP directives.

The entire report is available at:
http://www.housingactionil.org/downloads/SAI_FINAL_REPORT.pdf.

March 24, 2010—Four advocacy groups working to create affordable housing and end homelessness released a report today demonstrating that unless the State of Illinois passes comprehensive tax reform even more people will lose their housing and become homeless.

The report was based on a survey of state-funded providers of homelessness prevention funds, emergency shelter, homeless youth programs, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.

1. Agencies are already turning people in need of housing away due to state budget cuts. Sixty-one agencies turned away 1,292 people in January 2010 because of prior year state budget cuts, representing 9% of the 13,720 people they were able to serve. This does not include additional people who were turned away for issues not related to state budget cuts, such as lack of bed space.

2. Agencies are already owed a significant amount of money by the state and are taking on additional debt to manage the crisis. In total, 54 agencies are owed $10.2 million from the state in delayed payments, or about $189,000 per agency. The average delay in state payments is slightly less than 3 months, with delays as high as 9 months.

3. State-funded programs create jobs and leverage federal funding. State funding for 61 agencies supports more than 1,600 jobs across Illinois. Forty-nine agencies are leveraging $47.7 million in federal funds every year that depend on a state match.

4. More budget cuts will result in fewer people receiving services and the loss of state-funded jobs. Based on the responses of 66 agencies, if programs are cut substantially in the FY11 budget, 79% of agencies would have to reduce services and 74% of agencies would have to lay off staff. Forty-one percent of agencies would have to eliminate programs.

CHA Voucher Holders Continue to Be Concentrated in Segregated, Poor Chicago Communities

February 8, 2010—A report issued today, "Are We Home Yet? Creating Real Choice for Housing Choice Voucher Families in Chicago" finds that the majority of the Chicago Housing Authority's 35,000 Housing Choice Voucher households reside in predominately African-American, high poverty neighborhoods within the City of Chicago, and that more voucher families are now concentrated in these types of communities than ten years ago.

From the Front Lines of Foreclosure, Counseling Agencies Struggle to Meet Demand

July 7, 2009—Housing counselors are struggling to keep up with strong demand for foreclosure prevention services, while some communities lack counseling resources all together, according to a new report by Housing Action Illinois, a counseling advocate, and Woodstock Institute.

The report, entitled On the Foreclosure Front Lines: Surveying the Capacity of HUD-Certified Housing Counseling Agencies in Illinois, found that much of South Suburban Cook County, McHenry County, and parts of Northwest Will County had startling gaps in counseling services. Even in areas where several agencies actively provide foreclosure prevention counseling, four out of every five new foreclosure cases in 2008 did not access counseling services.

Use of Homeless Shelters in Illinois Significantly Increased During Second Half of 2008

January 15, 2009—Homeless service providers in Illinois saw a marked increase in the need for their services during the last six months of 2008. This is a trend that is likely to continue as long as the economy continues to worsen.

During December 2008, 71% of state-funded providers of overnight and transitional shelter reported serving an increased number of people experiencing homelessness compared to six months previous. According to the report released by Housing Action Illinois, more than one-third, 35%, of agencies reported an increase of more than 10%.

Loan Servicers Rarely Offer Relief to Illinois Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Federal Moratorium on Foreclosures and Mandate to Modify Loans Needed

December 22, 2008—Even as the number of home foreclosures continues to increase, 75% of loan servicers rarely agree to workout plans that allow homeowners in Illinois to maintain their homes.

These survey findings, reported in Who's Serving Whom? Analyzing The Frequency Of Loan Servicer Modifications, provide evidence to support federal legislation to systematically and automatically modify loan terms, a temporary federal moratorium on home foreclosures until such legislation becomes law, and other measures.

Housing Action Illinois conducted a survey of HUD-certified housing counseling agencies in September 2008 to determine how often specific loan servicers offered workout plans to homeowners in order to avoid foreclosure.

Briefing Book Calls for Affordable Housing in Capital Budget

February 2008 — At the state capital yesterday, a briefing book for state legislators was released, calling for the inclusion of affordable housing funding in the state's capital budget.

Housing Oak Park Identifies Plan for Residents, Village, to Get Involved in Affordable Housing.

November 2007 — Housing Oak Park has recently released a compilation of resources and recommendations to maintain the inclusive nature of Oak Park. Accessible for both concerned citizens and government officials.

November 2007 — Prepared by the Kane County Housing Action Coalition in association with Housing Action Illinois, this report was created to assess the current state of affordable housing in Kane County, Illinois.

Novmeber 2007 — Prepared by the DeKalb County Housing Action Coalition, this report focuses on whether the future workforce in the county will be able to find housing while paying less than the recommended level of 30% of their budget.

IHARP Report on Locating Affordable and Accessible Housing for People with Disabilities in Illinois

May 2007 — The Illinois Assisted Housing Action Research Project (IHARP) is an assisted housing database project for Chicago and the state of Illinois. This IHARP report examines accessible and adaptable affordable housing options for persons with disabilities in Illinois. Unlike past IHARP reports that focused on a particular program, we are looking at all subsidized housing programs in Illinois to get a better understanding of what exists, where it is located and to whom it is available.

Housing Counselors Report That HB 4050 Helped Borrowers Understand Unaffordable and Misleading Loans

April 2007 — 11 HUD-certified Counseling Agencies that participated in the HB 4050 Predatory Lending Database (‘PLD’) Pilot Program released a report on the services they provided under the Pilot Program. The report finds that many borrowers did not understand the terms of the loans that they were getting and that loan terms were often unaffordable and misleading for borrowers.

Insecure in Your Own Home: What It Means to Rent in Illinois

January 2006 — Lockouts, forcible entry, and security deposit disputes are common occurrences for Illinois renters, according to a new report called “Insecure in Your Own Home: What It Means to Rent in Illinois,” released by the Illinois Tenants Rights Working Group. The report calls attention to the experiences of statewide survey respondents who lack the basic consumer protections for safe, stable, and secure housing.

November 2004 — The Illinois Assisted Housing Research Project (IHARP) released a report evaluating the federal HOME Housing Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, the most important source of federal funds cities and counties have at their disposal to improve local housing conditions.