HousingPolicy.org Highlights Minnesota's Innovations

HousingPolicy.org, is an online guide to state and local housing policy developed and maintained by the Center for Housing Policy, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference. They focus on compiling and disseminating information of value to governmental agencies and housing policy specialists.

The most recent addition to their PolicyLink Toolkit: Reclaiming Foreclosed Properties for Community Benefit, highlights three parts of the country that are doing some innovative things to return previously vacant and foreclosed properties to productive use.

The areas they highlight for best practices in their latest report are Providence, RI; Cleveland, OH and... The Twin Cities! The guide/report highlights the work of the MN Foreclosure Partners Council, which the Minnesota Home Ownership Center is a part of.

The full guide is available here.

The 'money quote' is found on page 67:

Conclusion

Minnesota officials recognized the scale of the foreclosure problem before most of the nation’s experts and took quick action. The Minnesota Foreclosure Partners Council is an extraordinary example of organizations and government working together on a statewide basis to solve important issues. Their work is both visionary and grounded, focusing on innovative financing, buyer incentives and quick, strategic acquisition of REO properties as pilot communities for the National Community Stabilization Trust’s First Look program. Their efforts send a powerful message to funders and organizations looking for worthy projects to invest in.

The Center is proud to be a part of the MN Foreclosure Partners Council... and to be working to help Minnesota families - - and our communities recover from the foreclosure crisis.

Do you work for a City, County or other municipality? Would you like help in getting the word out to YOUR constituents about the availability of FREE, High Quality, Non-Biased Foreclosure Prevention Counseling? Contact Ed Nelson at the Center for information on flyers and postcards that can be co-branded with YOUR information.

Coordinated Plan to Address Foreclosures - Updated

The Minnesota Foreclosure Partners Council has produced an updated report to the Coordinated Plan to Address Foreclosures in Minnesota.

The updated report reviews the "Successes to Date" of foreclosure intervention in Minnesota and highlights a number of "Calls to Action" to keep Minnesota moving forward with its efforts to stem the tide of foreclosures in Minnesota, and to undertake recovery efforts.

As we mentioned in the last post, we're not going to see the end of the foreclosure issue any time soon... but Minnesota continues to be 'ahead of the curve' as far as the coordinated effort of public, private and non-profit entities working together for the good of homeowners.

A complete copy of the updated report can be found here.

Disclosure: The Minnesota Home Ownership Center is a participant in the Foreclosure Partners Council.