Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity

Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (TCHFH) and its Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program (MFPP) has taken center stage recently as federal lawmakers are taking notice of the national foreclosure crisis. MFPP provides counseling to any Minneapolis homeowner at risk of losing their home to foreclosure.

In early November, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Representative Keith Ellison Congressman hosted a roundtable at the TCHFH office to gather feedback from local mortgage foreclosure prevention experts about the foreclosure crisis and discussion solutions. Several local organizations were present, including ACORN, Community Action for Suburban Hennepin, the Minnesota Homeownership Center, and the Minnesota Housing Partnership. 

"Nationwide, another 2 million houses will be in foreclosure by 2009, resulting in a 70 billion loss in property value," said Senator Klobuchar.  "But we understand locally the devastating impact this has on our neighborhoods and communities."

Yvette Griffea-Gray and Kai Gray, a young professional couple from South Minneapolis, shared their personal story of struggle with foreclosure.  The couple had initially qualified for a fixed rate conventional loan, but were advised by a trusted friend to take out an interest-only adjustable rate mortgage (ARM).  The Grays nearly lost their home to an exploding ARM with payments that jumped from $1,500 to $2,600.  Had they kept the loan, the payments would have jumped to over $3,600 in 2008.  With help from MFPP counselors, the homeowners were able to obtain a loan modification that gave them a more affordable fixed rate loan.

"Thankfully, with help from ACORN and Habitat for Humanity we will save our home," said Yvette.  "Melissa, the counselor we worked with at Habitat, has been instrumental in helping us." 

Three weeks after the roundtable, TCHFH joined other local housing organizations in another legislative roundtable hosted by Senator Norm Coleman.

"Predatory lending has taken advantage of the American Dream of homeownership," said Susan Haigh, president of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. "We support federal legislation to protect homeowners from getting into mortgage products that are either unaffordable to begin with or not affordable long-term."

Twin Cities Habitat's MFPP and its staff have been featured in several recent news stories.  To read more, visit the online newsroom at www.tchabitat.org.