Call it what you will—the new pet rock perhaps?—but Cheryl Wharton of Newark, California is facing the mortgage crisis with an entrepreneurial and tongue-in-cheek spirit.
She invented this:
Used by permission of Cheryl Wharton. Car not included.
For those of you who missed the Vocalo.org/Facing the Mortgage Crisis “How Not to Lose Your House Party” (I know, the Bears were on!) here is each session for your listening pleasure.
In this half-hour talk, Pam Dempsey, owner of Bronzeville Properties, covers what you need to know about tax credits, the buying process, inspections, and condos.
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Art del Angel of Metropolitan Tenants Organization advises renters of their rights and suggests ways to protect themselves when their landlords fall into foreclosure. This presentation runs about 35 minutes.
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Michael van Zalingen of Neighborhood Housing Services covers what you need to know about foreclosure prevention. This presentation runs about 40 minutes.
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If you are still looking for face-to-face help (or want to help a friend) check out our Community Resource Guide. It lists a directory of agencies throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Some are offering December workshops.
The crowd of around 50 who came for dinner and dancing also did its part by bringing donations for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Vocalo producer Fyodor displays donations
I’m amazed at what a YouTube search for “foreclosure song” turns up. Here’s just a sample of the creativity out there.
“Foreclosure” by Chris Kiley
Performed by Chris Kiley and Ana Tipton
Honey, it’s hard to say
But the bills are piling up
And they aren’t gonna go away
I feel beat
I’ve been working overtime
And still can’t make ends meet Read the rest of this entry →
While looking into what happens at the intersection of pets and foreclosure (see this entry from last week) I met a man named Tony Pietrzyk.
Appraiser Tony Pietrzyk and Seraphina. Photo by Jeanne Power
Pietrzyk is as an appraiser of sorts; he provides broker priced opinions or ‘BPOs’ of foreclosed properties on Chicago’s Southside.
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Inside one of those homes, a boarded up two-flat on Chicago’s Southside, Pietrzyk discovered more than he had bargained for. Sprawled across the floor, hanging out of a box, lay a gray cat. Read the rest of this entry →
The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) in June launched a project that will explore the effects of foreclosure on children in Baltimore, New York City and Washington, D.C.
The study, “The Effects of Foreclosure on Children and Schools,” will link property-level foreclosure data to the home addresses schools have on file for their students. The researchers hope to see where children go after a foreclosure. Do they relocate within the neighborhood or do they move to other neighborhoods and attend different schools?
The researchers in Baltimore and New York will go a step further. They plan to track the attendance, test scores and drop out rates of these children of foreclosure.
Child Seat by digital_grid
According to the project description listed on the organization’s web site, NNIP hopes to “raise the profile of how children are being affected by this crisis and spur local conversations about how programs and policies can help minimize any possible negative effects. For example, the three sites will be able to identify and characterize the most severely affected schools and neighborhoods with concentrations of foreclosed families with children justifying the need for school- or neighborhood-based post-foreclosure services. Housing counseling agencies could also coordinate with family service organizations about referral options and partner with the schools to promote their foreclosure prevention services.”
The study is sponsored by Open Society Institute and will continue through August 2010. The Urban Institute is coordinating the project in partnership with the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, and NeighborhoodInfo DC.
As foreclosure and unemployment numbers remain high, animal shelters are feeling an uptick of their own.
In the first year of the recession, the number of animals in Chicago Animal Shelter Alliance member shelters grew by 9 percent, according to statistics from Maddie’s Fund. That’s an increase of roughly 3,300 animals.
Anti-Cruelty Society President Dr.Robyn Barbiers:
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PAWS Chicago’s food bank has distributed 30,000 pounds of food since October 2008. Executive Director Rochelle Michalek estimates 125-140 pets have been placed in their short-term shelter program since March of that year.
But there’s something else going on in the animal world for which I just cannot find a statistic. The word in the real estate community is tenants are leaving pets behind foreclosed properties.
Realtor Suzy Thomas:
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Thomas is the founder of Realtors to the Rescue. Working with the Anti-Cruelty Society, Realtors to the Rescue put together an animal resource sheet listing options like short -term animal shelters and pet food banks.
Robyn Barbiers explains a couple of those programs:
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Kate Pieri, the social worker for the evictions unit of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, says the resource sheet is now included with every eviction notice mailed. Thomas says the Sheriff’s Office has asked Realtors to the Rescue to expand the list to include more of suburban Cook County.
I hope the prevention efforts work because when I visited Chicago Animal Care and Control, l heard something else that troubles me.
CACC Operations Manager Mark Rosenthal:
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Join us this Sunday for a house party unlike any other. Set in a beautiful and historic Bronzeville mansion, the “How Not to Lose Your House Party” is a one-stop shop for your housing issues. Choose from three hour-long sessions starting at 6:00 p.m. to get the advice you need and have your questions answered.
Michael van Zalingen, Director of Homeownership Services at Neighborhood Housing Services will serve up what you need to know to avoid foreclosure.
What if your landlord goes under? Learn your rights as a renter from organizer Art Del Angel of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
Pam Dempsey, broker and owner of Bronzeville Properties will spell out what it takes to buy a home in the current real estate market and what to look for in a property.
Then kick off the party at 7 p.m. with food, drink, and music by DJ Wes. Your ticket in is a canned good to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“How Not to Lose Your House Party” is part of the Vocalo.org editorial initiative for November: “Home: Where You Live.” This event is cosponsored by the “Facing the Mortgage Crisis” series at Chicago Public Radio.
When
Sunday, November 22
5:30 Doors open
6:00 Sessions begin
7:00 Music and mingling
Venue
3619 S. King Drive (between E. 35th and E. 37th)
Chicago, IL
CTA Bus 3-King Drive
Direction: 95th
Presenters
Vocalo.org
http://www.vocalo.org/whereyoulive.
Chicago Public Radio series “Facing the Mortgage Crisis”
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/mortgagecrisis
Tickets
One canned good to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository
Please RSVP at Vocalo.org/store
Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy is offering a 20 percent discount to Americans facing foreclosure.
“Harry’s Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, had decided to give them a special 20% discount on all the items of the menu during the short term of recovery.” the bar’s sign reads.
The L.A. Times Travel page has a picture and a word of caution: Even with the discount, the 41 euro burger will still set you back about $50.
NOT the burger in question. (Photo by JOE M500)
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago will host a two-day conference December 9-10 called “Mortgage Foreclosure Policy: Past Present and Future.”
“This timely and interactive two-day conference will bring together nationally recognized practitioners, researchers and policymakers to discuss the evolution, current impact, and likely outcomes of the foreclosure crisis on home owners, lenders, housing counseling agencies, the secondary market, regulators, and all levels of government,” promises a statement released by the Federal Reserve Bank.
Timely, indeed. While national foreclosure rates fell three percent in October, Illinois’s foreclosure rate soared 56 percent, according to data released Wednesday by RealtyTrac.
The state of Illinois had nearly 20,000 foreclosure filings in October. Looking at quantity, Illinois ranks third highest in the nation, trailing only California and Florida.
In April the state legislature passed the 2009 Homeowner Protection Act (SB 2513) which establishes a grace period for homeowners who seek foreclosure prevention counseling. RealtyTrac says the law “may have created some pent-up foreclosure activity in the state.”
More information about the conference, including agenda and cost, is available at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago web site. The conference is co-sponsored by The Chicago Community Trust, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, and the Woodstock Institute.
Alyssa Miserendino knows a side of the foreclosure crisis few of us ever see.
The inside.
In April the Chicago photographer began her series “insideout Chicago 2009.” Photographing the interiors of foreclosed and short sale homes throughout the city of Chicago, hoping to capture the essence of displacement and abandonment.
Nothing is staged; she shoots what she sees. Sometimes the items left behind—like a child’s homework strewn across the floor—are remnants of lives set permanently to pause.
Photo by Alyssa Miserendino.
Events
blogs.vocalo.org
