FORECLOSURES – AND THEIR EFFECTS ON NEIGHBORHOODS
In this session, we stressed that neighborhoods are the basic building block of our society, where people communicate, interact, and grow up – and where negative factors can take a toll.
Currently, one of the greatest stressors is the rash of foreclosures – thousands throughout Maryland, and hundreds in Wicomico County. The impact on individuals losing their homes can be devastating; but there is also an impact on other homeowners remaining in the neighborhood.
The State of Maryland has developed a program to help distressed homeowners – by new laws, counseling services, and more than 1000 volunteer attorneys. In Wicomico County, an effort has been made to assist homeowner associations – protecting their members both directly and indirectly affected. Meetings have been held with neighborhood leadership to discuss notices of default, negotiations with lenders, protective liens, counseling to protect available equity, productive use of bankruptcy, avoidance of flipping and unscrupulous lending in the future.
The Wicomico Neighborhood Congress was formed several years ago, and has become a force in networking of neighborhood leadership to share ideas and seek solutions. While it has focused on chronic issues such as crime prevention, housing deterioration and environmental protection, the Congress has struck a chord more recently with dozens of neighborhoods concerned with the blight of foreclosure. In a series of interactive Congress meetings, homeowner associations have been shown how they can be part of a solution to many of the stresses and problems incident to this current wave of residential debt.
One of our home-grown volunteer attorneys then walked us through a number of tactics and strategies calculated to deal with foreclosures and related issues facing neighborhood associations today, and suggested lessons to be learned – methods to assist both individuals and their neighborhood leaders to anticipate and forestall future problems.