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The US Conference of Mayors (USCM) convened their annual meeting in Miami, Florida June 20-24, 2008. Mayors from across the country gathered to discuss a multitude of issues affecting their communities. Primary among their concerns were the current mortgage crisis, affordable housing and urban blight caused by vacant and abandoned properties.
Two sessions were designated to address these issues.
On Friday June 21st, The Council for the New American City conducted a session titled, "The Mortgage Crisis: Assessing the Nation's Response". The session was presided over by Mayors Douglas H. Palmer (Trenton NJ and President, USCM) and Brenda Lawrence (Southfield MI) and was highlighted by presentations from:
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Brian Montgomery, Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner - US Dept. of HUD
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David G. Kittle, Chairman Elect, Mortgage Bankers Association
Mr. Montgomery reviewed proposed legislation (FHA Modernization) and recently enacted regulations (Temporary Exemption on 90-day Waiting Period). Additionally current initiatives designed to avoid foreclosures and to increase homeownership were highlighted, including borrower outreach and pre-purchase counseling. Mayors were encouraged to host and support local foreclosure workshops.
Mr. Kittle, highlighted efforts by servicers to reach distressed borrowers, both directly and through efforts with the HopeNOW Alliance. The MBA has partnered with 40 cities to produce Public Service Announcements advising of available resources to avoid foreclosure and retain homeownership.
Finally, cities were advised that aggressive ordinances against lending and banking institutions could result in unintended consequences of the industry not being able to comply with the numerous ordinances.
In addition, a number of Industry participants provided their perspectives as follows:
Charles McMillan, President Elect National Association of Realtors (NAR), discussed the partnership between the NAR and the USCM titled, Ambassadors for Cities Initiative. The NAR's 1.3 million members nationwide are a valuable resource to cities in addressing their housing concerns.
Marietta Rodriguez, Director of National Homeownership Programs, NeighborWorks America discussed that her organization has focused on three distinct areas:
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Public awareness on available resources i.e. pre-purchase counseling
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increasing fundraising efforts to include partnership with the private (for-profit) sector
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creating strategies to deal with increases in REO properties - getting ahead of the curve
Deforest B Soaries, Jr., First Baptist Community Development Corporation, Somerset, NJ. felt that additional attention needs to be provided to ensure tenant’s rights are protected.
Robert Klein, CEO of Safeguard Properties suggested a three pronged approach to addressing the mortgage crisis.
Focusing on only one of these aspects will only cause to sustain and prolong the current crisis. In addressing maintenance of vacant properties, cities are increasingly enacting vacant property registration ordinances. Servicer’s are actively seeking to comply with local ordinances however they are greatly challenged by the lack of uniformity among the various ordinances. Mr. Klein urged the group to consider a state or national ordinance that would result in greater compliance. Richard Kaplan, Mayor of Lauderhill FL mentioned that he was part of a group seeking to establish a state registry.
On Sunday June 23, the session titled, "Vacant and Abandoned Properties Task Force" featured the release of the USCM 2008 Survey on Vacant and Abandoned Properties. This report provided details on a survey of 42 cities throughout the country and includes best practices from 28 cities including;
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Chula Vista, CA: Residential Abandoned Properties Program
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Hartford, CT: Anti-Blight Initiatives
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Hollywood, FL: Vacant and Abandoned Building Monitoring Program
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Jacksonville, FL: Proactive Code Enforcement Initiative
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Bowling Green, KY: Property Donation, Maintenance, Rehabilitation Programs
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Louisville, KY: Vacant Property Prevention and Re-Use Strategy
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Southfield, MI: Comprehensive Foreclosure Response
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Westland, MI: High Grass Ordinance
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Meridian, MS: Vacant and Abandoned Properties Programs
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St. Louis, MO: Problem Properties Initiative
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Hackensack, NJ: Abandoned Property Rehabilitation Ordinance
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Buffalo, NY: Vacant Property Initiatives
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Cincinnati, OH: Vacant Building Maintenance Licensing Program
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North Olmsted, OH: Real Property Maintenance Initiative
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Alexandria, VA: Blighting Influences Program/Spot Blight Abatement Program
Mayor Jerry Abramson (Louisville KY) presided over the meeting. A 2007 USCM meeting addressing the foreclosure crisis was attended by representatives of the MBA and several servicers. During that meeting Mayor Abramson advised a servicing executive in attendance that his City had monthly expenditures of $27,000 related to property maintenance issues on their portfolio of vacant properties in the City of Louisville.
Ali Solis, Vice President Public Policy and Industry Relations, Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) urged the Mayors to lobby their legislators to support the provision in the currently proposed legislation that will provide billions of dollars for the redevelopment of neighborhoods.
Additional initiatives discussed included;
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The HUD Asset Control Area Program which ECP oversees in several cities throughout the country
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Negotiations with the nations largest servicers for large-scale REO Gifting in targeted areas to be the foundation of the National Community Stabilization Trust (Land Bank)
Additional comments were provided by Mayor Timothy Stewart (New Britain CT) who discussed the crisis affecting New Britain and Jeffrey J Starkey Commissioner, Wilmington DE who reviewed his instant ticketing system for code violations.
Robert Klein, CEO of Safeguard Properties elaborated on Mayor Abramson's opening comments and suggested that the Mayor may have been better served addressing his concerns with individuals directly responsible for the preservation and protection of vacant properties. Safeguard Properties in conjunction with the MBA has created and maintains a servicer contact matrix available on the MBA and Safeguard websites. The matrix was provided to Mayor Abramson and others attendees. Several Mayors showed interest in continuing discussions regarding creating a model vacant property registration ordinance.
To view the USCM Press Release on this session, please click here.
To view a copy of the survey, please click here.
During the Conference numerous resolutions were passed including:
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The USCM urges that the servicers responsible for the foreclosed and abandoned properties be obligated to work with local governments upon becoming responsible for a foreclosed property in an effort to facilitate the rapid purchase and renovation of foreclosed properties
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The USCM supports increasing the loan amount eligible for VA guaranteed refinancing and supports increasing the amount of an original VA-guaranteed home loan, expanding options available to veterans and servicemen seeking to avoid foreclosure
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The USCM supports time-limited restrictions on lenders from foreclosing on active-duty servicemen, giving them more time to find a solution and prevent foreclosure of their home.
For a full list of the adopted resolutions, please click here. To view media coverage on the aforementioned sessions from the Miami Herald, please click on the following links:
Saturday June 21st
Sunday June 22nd
Monday June 23rd
About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 500 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
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