New Online Ad Campaign for Foreclosure Prevention

Screenshot of ad.  Actual ad
rotates through 4 panels 

The Minnesota Homeownership Center has launched a new online advertising campaign to reach struggling homeowners and get them connected to the Homeownership Advisors Network where they can get the foreclosure prevention services they need.

 

OUR STRATEGY:   This week, the Center  will begin an integrated digital (online) advertising program to reach struggling Minnesota homeowners through: 

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) (Highlighted ads that appear on Google, Bing, Yahoo! and other search engines when consumers search for specific topics). 
• Online banner advertising through the Yahoo! Advertising and the AdTaxi networks.  

Online banner and SEM advertising allows us to limit production expenses and get the ad seen by as many targeted households as possible.  When all is said and done, the ads will have been posted over 4 MILLION times.

 

OUR TARGET:   Online data and web usage tracking allow us to target struggling homeowners that meet specific demographic profiles.  We’ll be focusing on these homeowners in:   

• the 7-County Metro area (Hennepin, Ramsey, Carver, Scott, Dakota, Washington Anoka)
• Isanti, Pine, Sherburne, Chisago, Mille Lacs and Kanabec Counties;
• The cities of St. Cloud, Duluth, Rochester, Mankato and their surrounding communities. 

By targeting these areas we are reaching the hardest-hit areas of the state as well as close to 75% of the statewide population.

 

OUR TIMELINE:   The banner and SEM ads will begin the week of July 9th and are scheduled to run through early 2013.   

 

WE'RE BEING PROACTIVE:  The Center feels strongly that we can't wait for homeowners in trouble to come to us.  We have to proactively reach out to them to let them know help is available.  That's what this campaign is all about.  It's a no-nonsense message -- we're an effective, free, non-profit way for any Minnesotan to access foreclosure prevention services.

 

WE'RE BEING EFFICIENT:  We chose an online campaign to reach people in the most efficient way possible, and to ensure we could have the conversation with homeowners at a time when they are just one click away from getting help.  

 

WE'RE FOCUSED ON OUTCOMES:  We didn't want a feel-good campaign.  We want MN homeowners to get help, and we'll be monitoring the campaign's web analytics in real time to see how we're doing.  If search terminology or ad placement isn’t working, we'll adjust.  We are hopeful this approach will prove to be both an efficient and effective way to connect homeowners to foreclosure prevention services, and we'll be carefully measuring against that outcome.

 

PREVIEW THE ADS.  Unless you fit the targeted demographic and geographic profile we’ve identified, you may not see our ads much, or even at all.  We have, however, uploaded preview versions of the ads to our website here: http://hocmn.org/en/bannerpage.cfm

 

YOU CAN HELP!  

We can send you these ads electronically so you can email them to others, put one on your website or ask that your municipality, local social service organization or other partners post it.  The more broadly the ad is seen, the more likely homeowners will get the help they need!

New Foreclosure Prevention Assistance Program - EHLP

Homeowners facing foreclosure due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment or medical issues are eligible to benefit from a new federal program: the Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program (EHLP).

The program is only accepting applications between July 5 & July 22. Under this program, more than 1,400 selected Minnesota homeowners will receive up to $50,000 in interest-free loans over the next two years to help pay mortgage costs. The loans are also 100% forgivable for homeowners who stay in their home for 5 years following the program's completion.

Homeowners eligible to apply for the federal program must meet several criteria, including:

• Have faced an income decline of at least 15% due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment or medical issues
• Have been unable to make their mortgage payment for at least 3 months prior to June 1, 2011
• Reside in the mortgaged property

Unemployed or underemployed homeowners should visit the program's Minnesota website at www.EHLPMinnesota.com  to learn more about the program, verify eligibility and download a pre-application.

Remember: The deadline to apply for this one-of-a-kind program is 4:30p.m. on Friday, July 22.

Homeowners are also being warned to steer clear of scams.  There is no charge to apply for EHLP and checking eligibility and filling out the pre-application is simple.  An offer to help fill out EHLP forms for a fee or anyone who guarantees that a pre-application will result in acceptance in the program in exchange for money is a scam. 



Visit www.EHLPMinnesota.com for more information.


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CALL TO ACTION:  Help Us Spread The Word!

If you know of unemployed/underemployed homeowners who are struggling with mortgage payments, we ask that you spread the word to them about this unique, and short-lived, opportunity.

Below you will find additional tools that you can use to help spread the word (Links to documents):

• Fact Sheet for Professionals - Understanding EHLP (PDF)
• A handout for consumers (PDF)
• Email text that you can customize to your constituents/clients (MS Word)
• Electronic newsletter or blog post text. (MS Word)

Maybe a link on your website?  An email to friends/family or clients?  A handout at the cash register or inserted into clients purchases? A blog post on your company or personal blog?  WHATEVER!  We'd love to hear about it!  Post a comment about how you're helping, or visit our Facebook page and share your outreach ideas.  THANKS! 

Deadline Today For SAFE Act Comments

The deadline to submit comments on the proposed Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act  (SAFE Act) is TODAY, Friday March 5th, 2010

The federal and proposed state legislation define foreclosure counselors, including those in the Center’s network, as loan originators.

Including foreclosure counselors in the legislation will necessitate extreme costs, irrelevant education, and unreasonable redundancies, all of which could jeopardize the existence of free, unbiased, trusted, effective foreclosure prevention counseling services at a time when they are most needed.

Foreclosure Counselors should not be subject to the SAFE Act, please consider submitting comments to HUD.

For more information... including copies of the text the Center submitted to HUD, copies of the proposed rule and comment submission instructions, please visit the Center's website here.

Safe at Home Documentary - Video Clip Online

Safe at Home: Preventing Foreclosure, gives an overview of the Foreclosure Prevention efforts of the foreclosure prevention specialists in Minnesota.

It explains the current mortgage crisis in our state and, more importantly, explains the efforts that are underway to assist consumers and rebuild neighborhoods. The program comes to life with the contributions of two brave home owners who were willing to share their personal stories so that Minnesotans watching could learn about the real warning signs of falling behind – and the benefits of counseling.

The personal story of one of these homeowners, Molly O, is now available on the Center's YouTube channel. Click here to view the video.


In addition, YOU (Yes, you!) can help us spread the word about this important documentary. We hope that you will be able to use the documentary in your efforts to raise awareness about foreclosure in Minnesota.

To help you use this program in your efforts to promote SUSTAINABLE home ownership in Minnesota, we have created a tool kit of materials. This kit includes:

• Copy of the documentary on DVD.
• A tip-sheet of ideas for using the program to reach homeowners in your community.
• A tip-sheet for asking local public access stations to air the program.
• A sample newsletter article for use in your internal publications.
• Press releases sharing the stories of home owners for distribution to local newspapers.
• Sample email text for distribution to your contact lists.

We hope that you will consider using these materials in your community, on websites and as you speak with people about the benefits of protecting home ownership. Together, we can continue reaching home owners and preventing foreclosures across Minnesota! To order YOUR copy of the toolkit, just send an email to Ed Nelson at the MN Home Ownership Center: ed@hocmn.org.