The Center for New York City Neighborhoods

Homeowner assistance fund: The Center's wholly-owned cdfi subsidiary has implemented The New York state homeowner assistance fund (nys haf). Nys haf is a federally-funded program dedicated to assisting homeowners who are at risk of default, foreclosure, or displacement because of a financial hardship caused by The covid-19 pandemic. Nys haf will provide homeowners who are affected by covid-19 with several types of support: financial support to address delinquent housing payments that result in an affordable outcome; access to a call Center and case managers; and referrals to professional housing counselors or legal service providers. Ultimately, nys haf aims to help homeowners hurt financially by The pandemic stay in their homes.

Lending & capital: The Center's wholly-owned cdfi subsidiary, sustainable Neighborhoods llc, conducts direct lending and provides financial assistance to lmi families and historically socially disadvantaged communities, demonstrating models for mortgage origination and servicing at scale for homeowners. By offering reasonably priced mortgage loans, responsible servicing, and effective mortgage counseling, and/or integrating outside qualified nonprofit counseling organizations to support all applicants, The Center enables asset-building and sustainable wealth for homeowners who are not served by traditional capital or banking outlets. Products offered in 2023 include The equitable reverse mortgage assistance program and The distressed mortgage refinance program, along with servicing. for loans made through The mortgage assistance program. Additionally, sn was selected to administer nys haf, through which we are delivering approximately half a billion dollars in pandemic relief to thousands of nys homeowners.

Homeowner services: The Center develops and implements programs that meet critical homeowner needs and brings stability to Neighborhoods, including foreclosure prevention advice and assistance, storm recovery assistance, resiliency counseling, help with repairs, advice on energy efficiency, and more. The Center also coordinates and funds a network of nonprofit community-based housing counseling and legal service providers that act as a safety net for families across ny state. When needed, The Center also provides direct counseling and other services to homeowners to fill gaps. Programs and services offered in 2023 included foreclosure and scam prevention, homeowner protection program (hopp) and The homeowner help desk.

The Center employs a continuous cycle of research, advocacy, thought leadership, pilot programs, and technical assistance to make The case for governmental changes, programs, and investments that stabilize homeowners and expand affordable homeownership. Our research is driven by data and by experience on The ground with homeowners, and analyzes past and current trends to shed light on bad practices and make recommendations on best practices and policies.these efforts are aimed at both sustaining The Center and our vision, programs, and interventions, and at building The capacity, strength, and organization of The field. 2023 programs and initiatives included The black homeownership project, scam prevention campaigns, research on foreclosures and The nyc tax lien sale, The floodhelpny.org digital platform, and a variety of other initiatives aimed at raising awareness of and securing resources for homeowner issues across nyc and nys.