Federal Programs and Policies

The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program is a special federal appropriation, administered by NeighborWorks® America, designed to support a rapid expansion of foreclosure intervention counseling in response to the nationwide housing crisis. This brief summarizes the final results of the Urban Institute’s evaluation of the first two rounds of the NFMC program. Overall, the program is having its intended effect of helping troubled homeowners by improving the quality of mortgage modifications, increasing the frequency and sustainability of cures of delinquencies and foreclosures, and reducing the number of foreclosure completions for counseled homeowners.

The National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program is a special federal appropriation, administered by NeighborWorks America, designed to support a rapid expansion of foreclosure intervention counseling in response to the nationwide housing crisis. This report presents the final results of the Urban Institute’s evaluation of the first two rounds of the NFMC program. Overall, the program is having its intended effect of helping troubled homeowners by improving the quality of mortgage modifications, increasing the frequency and sustainability of cures of delinquencies and foreclosures, and reducing the number of foreclosure completions for counseled homeowners.

Based on our review and synthesis of the individual development account (IDA) literature, findings in this report include that IDA accounts (in the short-term, five years after program entry) help low-income families become homeowners, start or expand a business, or pursue secondary education. Studies to date have found no relationship between IDA program participation and net worth. The report reviews empirical evidence on the effect of IDA program participation and project design features on outcomes and highlights remaining gaps in the literature.

Foreclosed homes are a major drag on the housing market and a reason why housing prices continue to fall and new housing construction is stalled. Institute fellow Robert Lerman and Brooklyn College's Robert Cherry explain, in a commentary for CNN.com, an innovative way a million of these properties could provide families with housing instead of sitting empty, take pressure off rental rates, and boost construction jobs.

In an effort to better understand existing capacity for research on urban sustainability, researchers from the Center for Sustainability at USC conducted a survey of urban sustainability centers at U.S. universities. This analysis is the first phase of a larger project geared towards identifying a research agenda and developing common performance metrics to support federal sustainability initiatives. Results of the survey of 25 sustainability centers indicate that they are unevenly distributed throughout the country, operate on relatively low budgets, and face challenges securing funds for interdisciplinary sustainability research. A survey of current research activities suggests needed synthesis projects and framing papers on an array of sustainability topics.

Analysis of the conditions of rental markets in the wake of the Great Recession reveals a troubling forecast for multifamily properties and the households that inhabit them. Despite increasing rental vacancies since the beginning of the housing bust, the number of low and extremely low income renters swelled, resulting in notable increases in households paying over acceptable levels on rent. Further, even as the rental property climate improves in some metropolitan areas, tenuous rental income and increases in operating costs will expose marginally viable properties to increased financial risks. For renters, this amounts to deteriorating physical conditions and a lower supply of decent, affordable housing. From What Works Collaborative, a partnership of academia and policy think tanks including the Urban Institute.

The mortgage interest deduction has long been one of the sacred cows of tax policy. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, however, many observers have begun to wonder whether the time has finally come for reform. Ideas range from getting rid of America's favorite tax break to provide more revenue for solving the debt ceiling debate to overhauling it as a part of broad tax policy reform. And since neither debt nor homeownership look as special as they did just a few years ago, there is ample room for discussion. Jumping into the fray, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Reason Foundation are bringing together a panel of experts to debate the future of the mortgage interest deduction.

The Women's Foundation and the Urban Institute co-sponsored a Stepping Stones Research Briefing, featuring two panels touching on issues of affordability, homeownership, and rental assistance through the continuing housing crisis and the role of training, work, earnings and savings in building economic security for low-income, women-headed families.