HECAT RFP Available for Nonprofit Housing Organizations

We've highlighted many times on the @Home blog how our collaborative network approach to homeownership education and counseling in Minnesota is unique.  One of key pieces of our successful collaborative approach is that we are the only state in the country with a dedicated pool of funds that provides financial support to eligible non-profit organizations to deliver a variety homebuyer and homeowner services. This dedicated pool is known as HECAT (The Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training Fund).

Some of the valuable services that are funded through HECAT include:

• Pre-purchase education and counseling (Home Stretch),
• Post-purchase education and counseling,
• Home equity conversion counseling (Reverse Mortgages) and
• Foreclosure prevention counseling

Funds for HECAT come from a public-private partnership of agencies and organizations that are fully invested in ensuring that Minnesotans have access to the education and counseling tools necessary to achieve successful (sustainable) home ownership:

• Greater Minnesota Housing Fund,

• Minnesota Housing (Finance Agency), and

• Minnesota Homeownership Center

Each of the funding partners not only contribute financial resources they also actively participate in the grant-making process and provide technical assistance throughout the year. 

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for funding for programs in 2013 and 2014 (funding year runs from October 1st through September 30th) is NOW OPEN.  The deadline for applications is 3:00pm on Monday, June 10th.  This is a STRICT deadline.

Submission of Applications:  This year, nonprofits that are interested in applying for the HECAT RFP, must submit their applications both electronically and a hard copy via mail/dropoff before the deadline.  A Box.com account is required for the electronic upload and it is HIGHLY recommended that you open an account well before the deadline to avoid possible issues.  

For more information about HECAT, or to view the RFP and even lists of award recipients from previous years, visit the Minnesota Housing website... here.

Midyear Sheriffs Sales Report Released

MIXED MESSAGE FOR HOUSING: YEAR OVER YEAR DOWN 15% BUT VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED FOR THE LAST 3 QUARTERS, RATES STILL EXCEED HISTORIC LEVELS

The Center has released its most recent report on the number of homes sold at Sheriffs’ sales in Minnesota during the first half of 2012... and it sends a mixed message on the overall health of Minnesota’s housing market.   The report indicates that there were 9,565 foreclosures in the first half of 2012, a decline 15% from the same time period in 2011, but also shows that foreclosures have remained virtually unchanged for the last three quarters. 

The report, titled “2012 Semi-Annual Foreclosures in Minnesota:  A Report Based on County Sheriff’s Sale Data”, analyzes sheriff’s sale data, the only accurate means of identifying completed foreclosures, from each of Minnesota’s 87 Counties.  Minnesota is unique among other states in the availability of current, comprehensive foreclosure sale data. 

 “This report does not predict the future, but it sends a discouraging message,” said Julie Gugin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Homeownership Center.  “While the year-over-year declines are positive, we also know that thousands of Minnesota families continue to struggle with payments, and those numbers remain stubbornly high.”  

The Minnesota Homeownership Center, Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, Minnesota Housing and Family Housing Fund published the report, with research provided by HousingLink.

A full copy of the report is available at the MN Homeownership Center’s website: here.

HECAT Request For Proposals Available

As many of our readers know, the State of Minnesota is unique in that we are the only state in the country with a dedicated pool of funds that provides financial support to eligible non-profit organizations to deliver a variety of homebuyer/homeowner education, counseling and training services to Minnesotans. This dedicated pool is known as HECAT (The Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training Fund).

Some of the valuable services that are funded through HECAT include:

• Pre-purchase education and counseling (Home Stretch),
• Post-purchase education and counseling,
• Home equity conversion counseling (Reverse Mortgages) and
• Foreclosure prevention counseling

Funds for HECAT come from a public-private partnership of four agencies and organizations that are fully invested in ensuring that Minnesotans have access to the education and counseling tools necessary to achieve successful (sustainable) home ownership:

The Family Housing Fund,

Greater Minnesota Housing Fund,

Minnesota Housing (Finance Agency), and

Minnesota Home Ownership Center

Each of the four funding partners not only contribute financial resources they also actively participate in the grant-making process and provide technical assistance throughout the year.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for funding for programs in 2011 and 2012 (funding year runs from October 1st through September 30th) is NOW OPEN.  The deadline for applications is 5:00pm on Wednesday, June 1st.  This is a STRICT deadline.

For more information about HECAT, or to view the RFP and even lists of award recipients from previous years, visit the Minnesota Housing website... here.

New Research on Foreclosures from Minnesota Housing

Minnesota Housing, the State of Minnesota's Housing Finance Agency, has released its "Residential Foreclosures in Minnesota, Winter 2011" report.  The data, on the delinquencies and foreclosures of residential mortgages in Minnesota, comes from LPS Applied Analytics.

The report provides information about key statewide trends on both delinquencies and foreclosures, and shows, using full-color maps, the foreclosure and delinquency hotspots around the state as well as information about changes in the number of delinquent and foreclosed loans in each zip code.

In addition, the appendices include two large tables that provide data for each residential zip code in the state... a plethora of information to dig through!

Here are some of their findings:

• The state’s delinquency rate for residential mortgages has increased significantly over the last several years. Between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the fourth quarter of 2009, the percentage of mortgages that were at least 60 days past due quadrupled from 1.10% to 4.71%.1 On the positive side, the delinquency rate declined during all four quarters of 2010. By the fourth quarter of 2010, the rate was down to 3.43%, which is still very high by historical standards.
• North Minneapolis and East St. Paul, like most areas of the state, experienced a decline in the number of loans at least 60 days past due.
• The biggest increases in post-sale/REO loans were concentrated in the outer ring of the metro area and counties further out, including Rice, Le Sueur, Sibley, McLeod, Renville, Meeker, Benton, Kanabec, and Pine.

The full report is available here.

Affordability: Wages and Prices

 This post is a guest post by Laura Hodges, AmeriCorps Member
with the MN Home Ownership Center:



Click To Enlarge
(c) inspidlife (Used Under Creative Commons License)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soaptrail/


Can you believe we are here in 2011... three years into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression! Last week a glimmer of hope was announced that joblessness dropped to 9%- the lowest in 2 years.

Although this news inspires hope, many times the national statistics don’t include local information – a community-by-community breakdown - which can led to some people feeling that the lack of sustainable housing and wages isn’t trickling down to their communities. But now there is an interactive, online tool that shares all of this information.

As you may know the Center’s commitment to successful home ownership is demonstrated in many ways including sharing relevant training for the Homeownership Advisors Network, and keeping updated on legislative issues that affect homeownership. As another show of this continued commitment Center staff attended the sponsored by the Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP), Housing Policy Showcase on January 28th. Presenters included Mary Tingerthal, Minnesota Housing Commissioner, who spoke about her commitment to have Minnesota be a national leader on housing related issues, and Leigh Rosenberg, MHP Manager of Research and Outreach who presented on the connection between housing and wages.

Leigh also launched a valuable new tool that has been developed by MHP that gives a breakdown of housing and wages for every legislative district in Minnesota.

Follow the link and look for your district, and let us know how your district is doing…. http://mhponline.org/policy/policystate/legislative-district-profiles  

If you’re not sure which legislative district you live in, click here.

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If you'd like to communicate with Laura, she can be reached via email, here.

HECAT Funding Awards Announced

The State of Minnesota is unique in that we are the only state in the country with a dedicated pool of funds that provides financial support to eligible non-profit organizations to deliver a variety of homebuyer/homeowner education, counseling and training services to Minnesotans. This dedicated pool is known as HECAT (The Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training Fund).

Some of the valuable services that are funded through HECAT include:

• Pre-purchase education and counseling (Home Stretch),
• Post-purchase education and counseling,
• Home equity conversion counseling (Reverse Mortgages) and
• Foreclosure counseling

Funds for HECAT come from four funding partners that are fully invested in ensuring that Minnesotans have access to the education and counseling tools necessary to achieve successful home ownership:

• The Family Housing Fund,
• Greater Minnesota Housing Fund,
• Minnesota Home Ownership Center, and
• Minnesota Housing (Finance Agency)

Each of the four funding partners not only contribute financial resources they also actively participate in the grant-making process.

Additional information about HECAT can be found here.

A complete list of organizations that have been granted HECAT funds for the 2010-2011 program year is available here. (PDF Document)

Next Wave of Foreclosures Coming to Minnesota

I've come across two recent items that point to what we've all feared... the next wave of foreclosures is rapidly approaching Minnesota. 

While no corner of Minnesota has escaped unscathed from the from the foreclosure crisis, the urban areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been especially hard hit.  HOWEVER... the next wave of foreclosures will be felt the most in the outer-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities and the counties that surround the TC metro area.

The first item is a slide from MN Housing, that was presented to the members of the "Foreclosure Partners Council" (Working group of organizations on the front line of the State's response to the foreclosure crisis.  The MN Home Ownership Center is an active member of the Council.)  John Patterson, Director of Research and Evaluation at Minnesota Housing, has taken data about the number of Non-Prime Adjustable Rate Mortgages that have not yet reset (or recast) and 'heat-mapped' the state of Minnesota:

The second item is an audio presentation from Dr. Jeff Crump, Professor of Housing at the University of Minnesota, who has studied the foreclosure issue for years.  He has come to the same conclusion as John Patterson.  You can hear Dr. Crump's presentation here.

Combined with the less-than-stellar employment figures in the 'red zones' of John's "heat-map"... it's obvious that there are parts of Minnesota... like the suburban areas around the twin cities... and parts of Crow-Wing county... that are still in for quite a bit of pain.

If you have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage... and you're not sure what will happen when the rate adjusts, or if you're struggling with payments now... don't delay, contact a Foreclosure Counselor through the Minnesota Home Ownership Center TODAY to learn about your options and steps to take to avoid a possible foreclosure.  Waiting limits your options.  For information on how to contact your local, FREE Foreclosure Counselor, click here.

HECAT Funding Awards Announced

Minnesota is unique in that there is a dedicated pool of funds that provides financial support to eligible non-profit organizations to deliver a variety of homebuyer/homeowner education, counseling and training services to Minnesotans. This dedicated pool is known as HECAT (The Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training Fund).

Some of the services that are HECAT funded include:

• pre-purchase education and counseling (Home Stretch),
• post-purchase education and counseling,
• home equity conversion counseling (Reverse Mortgages) and
• foreclosure counseling

Funds for HECAT come from four funding partners:

• The Family Housing Fund,
• Greater Minnesota Housing Fund,
• Minnesota Home Ownership Center, and
• Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (Minnesota Housing)

Each of the four funding partners contributes financial resources and participates in the grant-making process.

Additional information about HECAT can be found here.

A complete list of organizations that have been granted HECAT funds for the 2009-2010 program year is available here. (PDF Document)

La Mera Buena - Summer Radio Campaign

The Minnesota Home Ownership Center and Minnesota Housing (Finance Agency) have produced a public service announcement on the Spanish language radio station: La Mera Buena (FM 107.5 / KBGY).

The message, read by on-air personality Mike Castillo, lets Spanish-speaking homeowners that may be struggling with their house payments about working the existence of FREE, non-profit foreclosure prevention services and warns them about working with for-profit agents that may not have their best interest in mind.

The text of the message (translated to English):

If you think you’re in danger of, or are already facing, foreclosure… you’re not alone. In Minnesota, there are services available to receive advice and assistance – FREE OF CHARGE – to help keep you from losing your home. Unfortunately, there are people who only want to take advantage of you in your situation, and they can actually make things even worse. If you need assistance, contact the MN Home Ownership Center at 651-659-9336 or MN Housing at 651-296-7975. And remember: Don’t let yourself be fooled. This message is sponsored by the MN Housing Finance Agency and the MN Home Ownership Center.

The message, which will run about 80 times over the summer, has already increased the volume of calls to the Center requesting information about foreclosure services.

You can hear the spot (MP3 Format), here.

Coming Home: Strib Highlights Home Stretch

An article by Lynn Underwood in this past Sunday's Star Tribune covered the story of the Roggenbuck family, who purchased a previously-foreclosed home through Bremer Bank using Native American Homeownership Initiative funds and assistance from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency - and the knowledge they received from taking the Home Stretch workshop.

The complete article is here.

Would you like to know more about the Home Stretch program? For a complete overview as well as additional information about the families who have participated, the Center has made the 2007-2008 Home Stretch Program Report available on its website here.

If you are a homeowner interested in purchasing your first home in Minnesota... Home Stretch is the place to start! Learn - start to finish - everything that is involved in becoming a homeowner at the Home Stretch Workshop. Then see if you qualify for any down-payment assistance programs, first-time buyer programs or community recovery (foreclosure recovery) programs - like the Neighborhood Stabilization Program - by speaking with a Home Stretch Counselor. For more information, click here.