U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson applauded NeighborWorks America for expeditiously awarding $130 million to HUD-approved national counseling intermediaries and state housing finance agencies. The grants will provide thousands of families with foreclosure prevention counseling. See news release.

Mortgage brokers thrived on commissions during the housing boom amid lax lending standards. Now, with mortgage defaults soaring and lending volumes plunging, some former brokers and loan officers have converted to a new occupation: counseling borrowers who are trying to avert foreclosure. A recent Wall Street Journal article examines this new trend and features NeighborWorks America organizations, such as Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica (New York) and Beyond Housing in St. Louis, Missouri. Read "Switching Sides."

On March 13, Congressman Barney Frank, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee introduced a new legislative proposal aimed at addressing the rising foreclosure crisis. Among other things, the proposed legislation, known as the "FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act" would:

• Provide an additional $300 billion in new guarantee authority to FHA, along with expanded authority for FHA to provide a broadly available refinance product for at-risk borrowers.
• Provide $10 billion in loans and grants to States for the purchase and rehabilitation of vacant, foreclosed homes, with the goal of occupying them as soon as possible.
• Provide $200 million per year for FY '08 and '09 for foreclosure counseling. (There's no mention of who would be designated to administer the funding.)

Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Chairman has also announced his intention to introduce a similar proposal in the Senate. It has been reported that Congressman Frank and Senator Dodd "have a 'conceptual agreement." According to Chairman Frank, "While we are not in identical places now, we are in very similar places." Learn more:

• A copy of the proposed Bill [PDF, 136 KB]
• The House Financial Services Committee's summary of the draft bill
• A summary of Chairman Dodd's “Hope for Homeowners Act" proposal

FINRA is providing funding to nonprofits and higher education entities for research and/or educational projects that provide financial literacy knowledge, skills and tools to underserved populations. In 2008, special focus is on projects that:

• Offer new marketing and distribution channels for financial and investor education;
• Help people manage their finances and investments in retirement;
• Meet the financial and investor education needs of underserved audiences;
• Use behavioral finance to improve saving and investing.

Preference is given to projects that can be replicated and are in the financial and investor education field. Proposals must be submitted to NEFE, Attn: FINRA Investor Education Foundation Grants program, 5299 DTC Blvd., Suite 1300, Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111. Learn more online or contact Susan Sarver at 202.728.6948, finrafoundation@nefe.org.

Collaborate with your peers, learn from experts, and gain invaluable skills to address the foreclosure crisis and numerous other timely and important issues at the Cincinnati NeighborWorks Training Institute this May 5–9, 2008. Located in a diverse city in the heart of the country, this NTI will feature courses and discussions that get at the heart of the current and important issues facing our communities today. Early bird registration closes March 31 (save $50) and regular registration closes April 10. Sign up today to take part in over 80 courses and the critical Symposium on foreclosure.

The Cincinnati NTI Symposium, Weathering the Storm: Stabilizing Communities in the Wake of Foreclosure, will give you the tools needed to tackle the continuing foreclosure crisis. The symposium will address the current landscape and community impact, and then will explore plausible ideas and solutions. Developers, counselors, financial managers, and community leaders alike will benefit from this symposium. Courses throughout the week will supplement the discussions at the symposium giving you a full week of important foreclosure skills and knowledge.

NeighborWorks America recognizes the critical role professional homeownership educators and counselors play in stemming the foreclosure crisis. Throughout 2008, the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC) will significantly increase the amount of time-sensitive training to counselors on the front line — at NeighborWorks Training Institutes and locally, in cities across the country. Course topics target the needs of all counselors, from fundamental classes such as Foreclosure Basics and Introduction to Housing Counseling to Advanced Foreclosure: Case Study Practicum and Advanced Residential Lending. Practitioners can even be certified through the
five-day Foreclosure Intervention and Default Counseling Certification, Part I course. A limited number of tuition scholarships and lodging stipends are available to attend this unparalleled training. To stay in the loop about upcoming training sessions, be sure to bookmark and visit often the Foreclosure Counseling Training Page.

In 2008, the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC) has a new scholarship opportunity for practitioners to take advantage of valuable homeownership training. The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Training Program is open to all 501(c)(3) organizations and provides fully-paid training and lodging scholarships to attend essential foreclosure-related courses sponsored by NCHEC.  Now, along with the NCHEC/HUD training program, there are even more opportunities to apply for scholarships to attend training through the NeighborWorks Training Institute and place-based training events. To learn more about the NFMC Training Program and view a schedule of upcoming dates and locations along with program eligibility requirements, visit NCHEC.