Celebrate Homeownership Month With Us!

The Minnesota Homeownership Center and the Homeownership Advisors Network are partnering with Minnesota Housing, MN Association of Realtors®, USDA Rural Development and the Minnesota Department of Commerce to promote homeownership and stabilize Minnesota’s neighborhoods by sponsoring homebuyer education in June.

In celebration of Homeownership Month in June, the Center is pleased to announce the availability of free homebuyer education.   This opportunity is available thanks to the generous support of several public and industry partners.

Quality homebuyer education is the foundation of successful homeownership and is key to stabilizing Minnesota’s neighborhoods.  A recent study conducted by Neil Mayer & Associates and the credit bureau Experian found that homeowners that receive pre-purchase education and counseling services are 30% less likely to become seriously delinquent on their mortgage in the first two years after closing.

In Minnesota, homebuyer education is available online and in-person.  Both courses include an in-depth understanding of the homebuying process, how to choose the right home, the importance of credit and good financial management, how a lender determines how much to lend, the importance of working with a real estate professional and the buyer’s rights and responsibilities once they become an owner.

Free in-person Home Stretch Workshops are available at participating locations throughout the state from June 22-29.

Framework, the most comprehensive online homebuyer education course available, will also be free to the first 100 customers who sign-up and use the special coupon code: MNPROMO13 

Filling the Foreclosure Funding Gap

The Good News:
Minnesota Housing announced a $1 million award to the Minnesota Home Ownership Center yesterday during a press conference held at a foreclosed property on Saint Paul’s east side. The award comes at a critical time when federal funding gaps threaten the ongoing work of 74 counselors across the state.

Coverage of the press conference can be seen here (Fox-9), here (Finance & Commerce) and here (MPR).
UPDATE: Star Tribune has also covered us: here.

“We’ve come too far and invested too much in foreclosure prevention across the state to let this funding gap damage our efforts and the infrastructure we’ve built together,” said Dan Bartholomay, Commissioner of Minnesota Housing. “Minnesota has benefited from a strong, statewide network of foreclosure counseling agencies, counseling nearly 16,000 households in 2009, and we’re here today to make sure that continues.”

Here's the situation... the foreclosure counseling network in Minnesota faces an immediate threat to the provision of services, even while facing continued, and in some areas, increased, demand foreclosure prevention counseling. Current funding has been exhausted and the next round of federal funding will not be available until March 2011, pending congressional authorization.

“Minnesota Housing has demonstrated outstanding leadership throughout this prolonged foreclosure crisis,” added Julie Gugin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. “Their latest contribution will help ensure that tens of thousands of Minnesotans have access to quality, nonbiased services that will help them avoid foreclosure. Their partnership is critical to stabilizing housing and communities throughout Minnesota.”

With this $1 million award, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center is prepared to work directly with counseling organizations to continue services.

The Bad News:
Center staff has calculated that it will take just over Five Million dollars to cover the cost of maintaining foreclosure counseling services in the state of Minnesota at current levels through the end of 2011.  We'll keep you informed about the fundraising process - and its impact on the counseling network over the coming months. 
 
For now... services will continue without interruption and MN Homeowners that are struggling with their mortgage payments - or think they may have difficulty making payments soon, should contact a non-profit (FREE!) foreclosure counselor TODAY.

Home Stretch and the Neighborhood Stabilization Plan (NSP)

As many of our partner organizations are working with clients that will be taking advantage of the NSP program to assist them with their home purchase, I thought I'd forward along some information that might help clarify some of the misconceptions regarding the education requirement of the NSP program:

Participants in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) are required to complete 8 hours of pre-purchase education and counseling from a HUD-Approved Counseling Agency. While Home Stretch is the state of Minnesota's premiere pre-purchase education program... NOT all Home Stretch providers are approved HUD counseling agencies.

If you are a homeowner looking to use the NSP dollars, or if you're a real-estate professional working with future homeowners that will be using the NSP program... please check the Center's website here for a complete list of the HUD-Approved Counseling Agencies, as well as how to tell if a given Home Stretch workshop is NSP Approved. This will save you or your clients the hassle of having to RE-TAKE the workshop. (Yes, sadly, it has happened).

Looking to the future... the The Center has applied for a waiver that would allow additional Home Stretch providers to be "Approved" NSP Education providers. The Center continues to work with MN Housing on this waiver and meeting the conditions set forth by HUD. EVEN if the waiver is approved, based on the conditions of established by HUD not all Home Stretch providers will be approved, and, in addition, there is no guarantee the waiver will be approved.

Until further notice from the Center, or MN Housing, only the agencies listed at the Center's website here meet the NSP education/counseling requirement.