Boston Foreclosure Homes Prevention Programs: History
September 21st, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
The pace of Boston foreclosure homes activity appeared to be slowing down this year and so with the rest of Massachusetts. But, industry experts said that the city is still far out of the woods despite the decline in foreclosure activity as delinquency rate statewide and in the Boston area continues to increase, with the number of homeowners who were behind on their mortgages rose by 4.2 percent compared with 3.4 percent the previous year.
The drop in foreclosure rate in the Boston area is attributed to the city government’s foreclosure prevention programs. In 1996, Mayor Thomas Menino established the Boston Home Center which provides educational and financial services to city residents who are planning to purchase their first houses.
The Boston foreclosure homes prevention efforts also include the Don’t Borrow Trouble, a public awareness campaign against fraudulent new mortgage products. The city government, together with Freddie Mac, has created announcements through television and billboards to warn consumers about high-risk and bad loans.
The initiative also informed consumers about affordable, safe and sustainable loan alternatives provided through the city government’s Boston Home Center. Market data showed that the number of homebuyers who participated in the local financing programs who went into foreclosure accounted for less than a third of the total foreclosures in the city.
In 2004, the city government formed a partnership with Freddie Mac to establish the Credit Smart program under the Boston Home Center. The program gave residents the opportunity to avail of the expanded and enhanced educational services that focus on financial management.
Early this year, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved Boston’s application for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) grant. The federal program works by providing funds to neighborhoods severely affected by the foreclosure crisis to purchase foreclosed homes, fix and sell or rent them.
So far, over $4 million NSP funds were allocated to for-profit and non-profit developers to support the rehabilitation of foreclosure properties.
