Title
Urging the U.S. Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to amend the use requirements of the Community Development Block Grant Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds.
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WHEREAS, According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 3,206 of the high-cost loans made in 2006 in the Philadelphia area are likely to go into foreclosure and the costs to all of the stakeholders involved will be more than $345 million; and
WHEREAS, These costs represent approximately $23 million to individual homeowners in foreclosure, $158 million to lenders and investors, $62 million to local government, and $107 million in lower home values of neighbors; and
WHEREAS, This data, along with other research, has shown that foreclosures increase violent crime in neighborhoods, decrease property values in neighborhoods, and reduce City tax revenue, making it harder to provide good schools, police protection, code enforcement, and other services; and
WHEREAS, In response to this foreclosure crisis and Resolution No. 080331, which called on Sheriff John Green and President Judge C. Darnell Jones to impose a moratorium on residential foreclosure sales in Philadelphia, the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania created the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program ("Foreclosure Prevention Pilot Program") as a means to assist homeowners and lenders to develop loan workouts and other solutions to permit homeowners to remain in their homes; and
WHEREAS, The Foreclosure Prevention Pilot Program, a strong network of City-funded housing counseling agencies, and coordinated executive, legislative, and judicial leadership have enabled Philadelphia to become a model for how to address the nation's foreclosure crisis; and
WHEREAS, The U.S. Congress also took action concerning our foreclosure crisis by passing the landmark Housing and Economic Recovery Act...
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