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 Focus on Preventing Mortgage Fraud (posted 03/12/10)
Like the rest of the nation, Oregon has been deeply affected by the downturn in the housing market. The foreclosure rate in Oregon continues to grow significantly as many Oregonians face economic challenges.
Director Margaret Van Vliet sent this letter to the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS), expressing PHB's desire to work in partnership with state agencies to help stem the tide of foreclosures and related fraudulent practices that are undermining our efforts at homeowner retention.
DCBS Director Cory Streisinger's response underscores the state's efforts at addressing the problem. "During the past two years, we have issued sanctions in 75 mortgage lending cases, resulting in 26 license suspensions, revocations, or other bars from the mortgage business, and more than $400,000 in fines."
Also this week, Margaret addressed real estate agents attending the day-long symposium organized by the Oregon Department of Justice, to discuss the issues and problems associated with short-sales, loan modifications and foreclosure "rescue" programs.
Along with the recent increase in foreclosures, the Oregon Department of Justice has seen a dramatic increase in mortgage and foreclosure fraud. Many consumers, however, never realize they were the victim of a foreclosure fraud scam. Additionally, scammed consumers are often reluctant to report the fraud after-the-fact, embarrassed that they were fooled. The goal of this symposium is to teach real estate professionals how to spot and report mortgage and foreclosure fraud.
One of the goals of the bureau has been to close the gap in minority home ownership. With the economic downturn, the challenge has been less about getting services to first-time home buyers, and more about helping people retain their homes. Responding to community needs, the Portland Housing Bureau invested over $1.1 million in 2009 to fund foreclosure prevention and home buyer assistance services that have a foreclosure prevention component.
This was the first time the Bureau had to allocate dollars for foreclosure prevention. Funded partners are hard at work getting much-needed assistance to local homeowners. We will have more to report on results of PHB's foreclosure prevention efforts in the coming months.
Spring 2010 Affordable Rental Housing NOFA (posted 3/8/10)
Deadline for the Spring 2010 Affordable Rental Housing Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is March 31.
Click on the hyperlinks to find the NOFA RFP (Word format), NOFA Pro Forma (Excel format) and
Frequently Asked Questions (pdf format).
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