Rental Markets, Foreclosures and the Credit Crunch Draws Huge Crowd on April 30

Foreclosures on rental properties are increasing the number of household’s competing for affordable housing and are threatening renters living in foreclosed properties with sudden evictions. These are two of the principal findings from a new report released by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies at a forum held in Chicago on April 30.

Joint Center director Nicolas P. Retsinas and senior scholar William Apgar spoke to an overflow crowd of approximately 400 people at the event, Rental Markets, Foreclosures and the Credit Crunch, which was sponsored by The Preservation Compact and ULI Chicago. Ellen Sahli, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Housing; Bruce Katz, Vice President, Brookings Institution; and David Schwartz, ULI member and Managing Member, Waterton Associates, LLC responded to the report.

The Joint Center report, entitled America’s Rental Housing: The Key to a Balanced National Policy, examines recent mortgage market events in the context of long-standing affordability problems that plague millions of renters.

“Investor-owned one- to four-family rental properties account for nearly 20 percent of all foreclosures,” noted Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center.  “Moreover, because many of the high-risk home purchase and home refinance loans now in default are concentrated in low-income and minority communities, the fallout from foreclosures is hitting the same neighborhoods where many of the nation’s most economically vulnerable renters live.”

To access all materials from the event including the Join Center report, a written summary and audio recordings of the event, as well as presentation materials, visit www.Chicago.uil.org.

Advisory Council Discusses Goal-Setting, Increasing Support for Preservation Activities

The Preservation Compact Advisory Council has been convened to help direct the vision of The Preservation Compact, bring new resources and partners to the table, and monitor the region’s progress in preserving affordable rental housing.  At the inaugural meeting, Preservation Compact Advisory Council members discussed how to broaden preservation activities in Cook County. The committee reviewed the keystone initiatives’ scope of work and data about the impact of the foreclosure crisis. The Advisory Council is chaired jointly by Rich Hanson of Mesa Development, and Julia Stasch of The MacArthur Foundation.

The Advisory Council is comprised of the following members:
Randy Blankenhorn, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)
David Doig, Park Bank Initiatives
Leonard English, The General Board of Pension & Health Benefits, United Methodist Church
Nancy Firfer, Metropolis 2020
Teri Frankiewicz, Crown Community Development
Pat Nash, JP Morgan Capital Corporation
Quintin Primo, Capri Capital Associates
Sylvia Puente, Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame
Craig Sieben, Sieben Energy Associates

Preservation Compact e-newsletter readers will be updated on prominent issues and discussions raised by The Preservation Compact Advisory Council in future newsletters.  The Preservation Compact welcomes the expertise and continued collaboration from the members of this new council.