NLC cites innovative Boston housing programs

The National League of Cities in October lauded Boston as a leader in innovative housing programs.

An article posted on the NLC website (www.nlc.org) summarized housing-related policies in the city going back to 1996, when the Boston Home Center was created.

Over the years, the article states, the Boston Home Center has provided “thousands of residents with the tools they need to achieve financial literacy, purchase a new home, get help with needed repairs, and obtain advice when facing credit or financial problems. Its outreach efforts include regular foreclosure clinics, direct mailing to homeowners in high-foreclosure areas, and offering community events and seminars.”

The NLC also cited Boston’s “Don’t Borrow Trouble” campaign, which was launched in 1999. The initiative focused on educating potential homebuyers about the hidden dangers posed by a new generation of loan products, which in some cases used misleading borrowing terms. In 2002, the NLC adopted the Don’t Borrow Trouble campaign and made it available to cities, counties and states. By the end of 2004, more than 30 U.S. cities had adapted the Boston program to meet their own needs.

The article praises the role of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in early 2008, as the national mortgage foreclosure crisis was approaching its peak. Initially focusing on a single street in the city’s Dorchester section, Boston’s Foreclosure Intervention Team established a solid record of keeping people in their home, according to the NLC.

“The team approach was broad,” the article states. “It systematically addressed foreclosure-related problems that affected a neighborhood where boarded properties with overgrown yards had become all too common, leading to a rise in all forms of crime, infrastructure deterioration, and general neighborhood decline.”