By Eileen Fitzgerald

June 5, 2013

What should the federal government’s role be in helping prepare consumers to make financial decisions? How can the housing industry help lead the way for better consumer knowledge and protection?

View the full forum here.

NeighborWorks America is a strong proponent of housing education and counseling. We believe it has an important role to play in helping prepare consumers to make responsible financial decisions. And, we know that homeownership education and counseling can achieve real impact for new homeowners, as well as for families facing foreclosure. Several recent studies from NeighborWorks America, and others, confirm this. In March 2013, we released an independent evaluation of the NeighborWorks pre-purchase program by researchers Neil Mayer and Ken Temkin using data from the credit report company Experian, which evaluated 75,000 mortgages originated between 2007 and 2009. The study found that borrowers who received homeownership education and counseling from NeighborWorks organizations were one-third less likely to fall 90 days or more behind on their mortgages in the first two years. These results were consistent with a study released in April 2013 by Freddie Mac which showed education and counseling reduced first-time home buyers’ delinquency rate by 28% or more.

By Jonathan Reckford

June 5, 2013

What should the federal government’s role be in helping prepare consumers to make financial decisions? How can the housing industry help lead the way for better consumer knowledge and protection?

View the full forum here.

An important lesson we have learned from the housing crisis of the past several years is that effective and affordable measures can be taken to increase the likelihood of lower-income families becoming successful homeowners. These measures include:

• appropriately priced loan products
• responsive, professional loan servicing
• high-quality preparatory education and counseling provided to first-time homebuyers

By Michael Stubel

April 8, 2013

Welcome to the BPC Housing Commission expert forum! This forum is intended to foster interactive and substantive discussion about pressing housing issues. Each month contributors from different parts of the housing sector will be invited to respond to a discussion topic.

Guest posts are shared regularly with Housing Commissioners to help inform their work.

By Joseph Ventrone

April 8, 2013

Which of the recommendations in the BPC Housing Commission’s report should receive highest priority?

View the full forum here.

As a professional is the field of federal housing policy for nearly 40 years, I wish to commend the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Housing Commission for crafting a package of realistic and actionable policy recommendations that respond to both the near-term and long-term challenges facing the housing sector. While the comprehensive report touches on major sectors of our federal housing framework, I believe the future of housing finance should receive the highest priority.