Foreclosure prevention groups push Hochul to make Homeowner Protection Program permanent

Several Long Island housing nonprofits are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that would make a key foreclosure prevention program a permanent part of state law.

Created in 2012, the Homeowner Protection Program was designed to deliver financial counseling and legal services, using funding from settlements with loan servicers, to New Yorkers at risk of losing their homes using funding from settlements with loan servicers.

But in recent years, nonprofits have needed to lobby to ensure the program continues with adequate funding. The governor and legislature included $40 million for the program in this year’s budget.

Ian Wilder, executive director of Long Island Housing Services in Bohemia, said the annual quest for funding has made it hard to have the confidence to grow its foreclosure prevention services.

"Every year, as they’re negotiating the budget, we don’t even know if the program’s going to exist," Wilder said. "It’s very hard for us to expand services or hire people because we have to be very conservative."

The bill would ensure the program continues, but the governor and legislature would still need to allocate funding annually.

The governor is reviewing the legislation and has doubled annual funding for the program from $20 million, according to Hochul spokesperson Kassandra White.

"Governor Hochul has fought for stronger protections for homeowners statewide in the foreclosure process and championed funding for homeowners to remain in their homes," White said in an email.

LIHS was one of 89 organizations statewide who signed onto a letter in July urging the governor to sign the bill to make the program part of state law. Those organizations served about 21,000 families statewide in the most recent contract year, according to the letter.

There are about a dozen Long Island agencies that are part of HOPP, including Community Development Long Island, Long Island Housing Partnership and Legal Services of Long Island.

Assemb. Michaelle Solages, the lead sponsor on the bill in the Assembly, said HOPP is a cost-efficient way to keep people from losing their homes, which results in higher spending on shelters and other temporary housing programs.

"Homeownership is one of the biggest investments a family will ever make," said Solages, a Democrat from Elmont. "It’s important that government not only gets people into homeownership but also protects the current individuals who have homes."

Recent data on foreclosure filings show the number of new cases remains much lower than during the foreclosure crisis of 2007-10. There were 188 foreclosure starts in May on Long Island, which was 70% lower than the monthly average since 2005, according to data from real estate data provider ATTOM.

But there will still be 12,413 foreclosure filings statewide last year, according to the New York court system.

The nonprofits also assisted with the more than 27,000 legally mandated foreclosure settlement conferences in which the courts aim to find solutions to keep borrowers in their homes, according to a state report.

Beyond affected homeowners, foreclosures can be destabilizing for neighborhoods, hurting surrounding property values and creating a greater strain on limited resources for temporary housing, said Wilder.

"If a house ends up going to foreclosure," Wilder said, "that has a huge impact on the entire community."