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Saving Homes – Saving Neighborhoods: Philadelphia’s Data-Based Approach to Stabilizing Neighborhoods Threatened by Foreclosure

Presentation by Ira Goldstein at the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices Summit on Foreclosures and Housing Solutions.

 
 

Subprime Lending, Mortgage Foreclosures and Race: How far have we come and how far have we to go?

Paper commissioned by Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity that explores the civil rights aspect of foreclosures. The paper draws from Reinvestment Fund’s work in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and looks at the role deregulation and the lack of federal law enforcement played in creating the subprime lending and mortgage foreclosure crisis.

 
 

Mortgage Foreclosure Filings in Newark, NJ

Study of mortgage foreclosure filings in Newark, NJ for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. This report distills recent trends in mortgage origination, delinquency and foreclosures in Newark from a variety of data sources. It provides a context of changes in the local real estate market to assist policymakers design an appropriate set of responses to counter the adverse impacts of foreclosures in Newark.

 
 

Using Data and Mapping to Identify Public and Private Investment Opportunities in Cities

Presentation by Ira Goldstein about the Market Value Analysis (MVA). The presentation was part of a session at the Federal Reserve Board of Philadelphia’s 2008 Conference, “Reinventing Older Communities: How Does Place Matter?”

 
 

Subprime Mortgage Lending in the District of Columbia

An increase in the delinquency rate for all mortgages in the District of Columbia over 2007 have resulted in more home foreclosures. Foreclosures can have a negative imact on neighborhoods and the entire city. This study offers an overview of subprime lending; a look at subprime lending in DC; and recommendations for how DC can help current and future borrowers. The study was conducted for the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.

 
 

Mortgage Foreclosure Filings in New Jersey

Study of mortgage foreclosures in New Jersey for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the Ford Foundation. Our singular purpose was to add a measure of systematic and objective data analysis to the mortgage foreclosure problem facing New Jersey. As is often the case, by the time the study is complete, the problem is not what it was when the study began. That is uniquely true in this instance. The overall magnitude of the mortgage foreclosure problem, nationally and in New Jersey, has increased substantially over the last 18 months.

 
 

The Economic Impact of Supermarkets on Their Surrounding Communities

Analysis of the impact of new supermarket development on consumers and their surrounding communities. The study looks at three potential impacts: improved real estate value, new investment and lower prices.

 
 

Lost Values: A Study of Predatory Lending in Philadelphia

Detailed local case study of predatory lending that includes the analysis of complete mortgage and sale histories for 15,500 properties in the city of Philadelphia from 2000 to 2003 as well as interviews with a broad range of subject experts.

 
 

Culture and Urban Revitalization: A Harvest Document

Report by by Susan Seifert and Mark Stern, University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact of the Arts Project, which serves as the foundation study for the Reinvestment Fund-SIAP collaboration and writings.

 
 

Mortgage Foreclosures in Baltimore, Maryland

Funded by the Goldseker Foundation, this study looks at mortgage foreclosures in Baltimore, Maryland. The study looks at mortgage foreclosures over a five year period, describing causes and patterns that have emerged.

 
 

Mortgage Foreclosure Filings in Pennsylvania

In-depth study of mortgage foreclosure filings in Pennsylvania. The study was conducted for the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, expanding on Reinvestment Fund’s analysis from 2004 of the foreclosure epidemic in the Poconos’ Monroe County.

 
 

NRLP: Assessing Impact

Case study that examines the social and economic impacts of rental housing developed in a section of West Philadelphia by Neighborhood Restorations (NRLP), Reinvestment Fund’s largest affordable housing borrower.

 
 

Free Tax Assistance Program

Study of the Free Tax Assistance program Reinvestment Fund offered employees of its portfolio companies. In addition to tax preparation, the program helped low-income wage earners claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) they were eligible for. This study examines the effectiveness of the program.

 
 

Understanding the Low African American Homeownership Rate in Southwestern Pennsylvania

Study for Housing Opportunities, Inc., with funding from The Heinz Endowments. This report seeks to answer critical questions regarding the low rates of African American homeownership in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

 
 

If We Fix It, They Will Come

A report by the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia that proposes ten fixes to improve and streamline the development process in Philadelphia. The report aims to eliminate or change steps in the process that unnecessarily add to the cost of a home and otherwise deter developers from building or rehabilitating houses in the city.

 
 

Bringing Subprime Mortgages to Market and the Effects on Lower-Income Borrowers

Working paper on how some borrowers end up with subprime mortgages and the extent to which those loans serve the true financial needs of those borrowers.

 
 

A Study of Mortgage Foreclosure Activity in Monroe County, Pennsylvania 2000-2003

Reinvestment Fund’s thorough analysis of foreclosures in Monroe County, PA’s second fastest growing county, provides the facts for State action on the crisis.

 
 

The Fight for Metropolitan Philadelphia: An Agenda

A follow-up to Flight or Fight, this agenda proposes three tangible state policy shifts that would have an immediate and significant impact on the region’s growth patterns.

 
 

Workforce and Economic Development: An Agenda for Pennsylvania’s Next Governor

This gubernatorial campaign briefing paper outlines six major workforce system reforms designed to align the Commonwealth’s billion-dollar workforce system with its economic development objectives.

 
 

Workforce 2002: Measuring What Matters

This report argues that Pennsylvania needs a comprehensive performance management approach to its workforce programs so that they can be effectively evaluated and improved. The report proposes an evaluation framework and a model for an Annual Report on Pennsylvania’s Workforce Investment System.

 
 

Flight (or) Fight: Metropolitan Philadelphia and Its Future

Metropolitan Philadelphia is a place with extraordinary assets. It should be a region of choice, but it’s not. Our region has seen minimal population growth and alarmingly low job growth. What’s growing most rapidly is sprawl, and it’s hurting our region. It’s time to think differently and make some big, positive changes.

 
 

Workforce: Responding to the Challenge

This report provides quantitative and qualitative data to forecast employer hiring needs in information technology and customer service occupations. It concludes that both these occupations cut across all industries and that the demand for these workers would continue based on favorable economic growth.

 
 

Civic Lessons: How CDFIs Can Apply Market Realities to Poverty Alleviation

A discussion of the social and economic trends that influence poverty alleviation policies and strategies, the result of these trends, the argument that community development financial institutions (CDFIs) can be one source from which regional civic intermediaries can be created, and examples of CDFI regional intermediary roles.

 
 

Choices: A Report on the State of the Region’s Housing Market

A course of action for rebuilding the Philadelphia region’s real estate market while seeking more regional activity around housing affordability.

 
 

Workforce 2000: An Annual Report on the Greater Philadelphia’s Labor Market

This report analyzed the demand for and supply of labor in the Philadelphia region and described the gaps that need to be addressed.

 
 

Nothing Left to Lose: Only Radical Strategies Can Help America’s Most Distressed Cities

This article was first to be called “Cities Forgotten by Their Regional Economies,” but as the authors reflected more on the competitive position of distressed central cities, they realized that the title was wrong.

 
 

Choices in Pennsylvania

An in-depth study of Pennsylvania’s housing market. Providing a basis for creating the State’s housing development strategy, the report focuses on the critical issues of community stability and public investment.