The Shriver Brief : Poverty Law Commentary & Insights : Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law : Affordable Housing, Healthcare Reform

As the foreclosure crisis has unfolded throughout the country, it has become evident that renters – not just homeowners - have been victims of this crisis. Indeed, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition reports that renters make up about 40% of the families facing the loss of their housing due to foreclosure and more than one in every five foreclosed properties is a rental property. 

Residents in foreclosed properties have been caught unaware that their home is being foreclosed and have scrambled with very little notice to find safe replacement housing. Rental properties in foreclosure fall into disrepair – even when there are still families living there.  Advocates throughout the country, grappling with the effect of the economic downturn, have called for increased protections for renters affected by foreclosure. Legislators have listened.

On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-22). This law, which sunsets in 2012, ensures that renters in foreclosed properties receive at least 90 days notice before they have to move, and that tenants who start a lease term before the notice of foreclosure may continue to live in their homes until the lease expires.

In Illinois, Representative Will Burns and Senator Jacqueline Collins have championed a bill, HB 3863, which would provide much needed protections for Illinois renters living in foreclosed properties. Currently, Illinois renters are not entitled to notice when control or ownership of the property in which they live changes as a result of foreclosure. Consequently, they frequently do not know who owns the property, where to pay rent, or who to call if repairs are necessary. Among other protections, HB 3863 would provide renters with essential information regarding their homes. 

The basic provisions of HB 3863 include:

·         During the foreclosure case, if a receiver (or mortgagee in possession) is appointed to operate and manage the property while the foreclosure case is pending, the receiver must:

a)      Make a good faith effort to identify residents of the property; and

b)      Notify residents of his or her appointment, inform residents that the property is the subject of a foreclosure action, and provide contact information for resident concerns and repair requests.

c)       Post notices with contact information at the property.

·         After the foreclosure is complete, the lender/new owner must:

a)      Make a good faith effort to identify residents of the property; and

b)      Notify residents that the lender/new owner has acquired the property, inform residents that the property has been the subject of foreclosure, and provide contact information for resident concerns and repair requests.

c)       Post notices with contact information at the property.

·         Tenants evicted as a part of the foreclosure case are granted a minimum of 30 days to move after the eviction hearing.

HB 3863 has been sent to the Governor’s desk. We implore Governor Quinn to sign it to protect the hidden victims of the foreclosure crisis.

Call 217-782-0244to encourage Governor Quinn to sign HB 3863.

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Dedicated advocates around the country are working furiously on behalf of clients who face foreclosure. Surely some of these creative minds have figured out how to solve the foreclosure crisis—haven’t they? Well, no. Lenders and loan servicers continue to resist loan modification, despite new federal incentives contained in the Home Affordable Modification Program, and advocates continue to grapple with the foreclosure monster.  

But promising efforts are underway. Philadelphia’s mandatory foreclosure diversion program, often held up as a model, can force lenders to come to the table. Of course, as advocates there point out, the program’s success relies on multiple pieces being in place: organizers (from ACORN, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, and other organizations) making personal contact with homeowners facing foreclosure, the Philadelphia Legal Assistance hotline, housing counselors, and representation in the actual mediation. While no panacea, a report on the program’s first year credits it with averting 1,400 foreclosures.

In areas where property values hit the stratosphere a couple of years ago many borrowers, to keep their homes, need not just loan modification but also principal reduction. In Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, advocates from Neighborhood Legal Services and community organizers from One LA joined forces to help homeowners negotiate collectively with their loan servicers; One LA used the data gathered to get the city council involved. The result is a pilot project through which, if the lender agrees to reduced principal and a fixed interest rate, the city will fund a “silent second” mortgage to reduce payments even further; the second mortgage is payable only upon sale or refinancing of the property.

Both these approaches were highlighted in a June 23 Shriver Center webinar, and the Los Angeles effort is also the subject of an article in the May-June 2009 issue of Clearinghouse Review. What innovative approaches are underway in your community? We’d love to hear about them. Email marciahenry@povertylaw.org  

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