Dec. 1, 2011

Center for Community Capital executive director discusses future of home ownership for low-income and minority families at Consumer Federation of America conference

Washington, D.C. – UNC Center for Community Capital Executive Director Janneke Ratcliffe joined colleagues from the Ford Foundation and National Council of LaRaza today (Dec. 1) to discuss the future of homeownership for low-income and minority families at the Consumer Federation of America’s Financial Services Conference in Washington, D.C.

“Our decade of research on thousands of low-income borrowers clearly demonstrates that homeownership for low-wealth, lower-income and minority borrowers can be financed sustainably.” Ratcliffe said. “Getting homeownership right not only benefits the homeowners, it benefits us all by creating mobility in the housing market, jobs and economic growth.”

The consumer federation’s annual conference, “The Consumer in the Financial Services Revolution,” examined convened consumer advocates, financial services industry representatives, academics, policymakers and others to examine new research findings, policy proposals, and legislative and

Joining Ratcliffe on the panel were George McCarthy, director of the Ford Foundation’s Metropolitan program and Janis Bowdler, director of LaRaza’s Wealth-Building Policy Project, both center research partners.

Ratcliffe is an expert in mortgage finance and co-author of Regaining the Dream: How to Renew the Promise of Homeownership for America’s Working Families. The new book, written with center director Roberto Quercia and senior research associate Allison Freeman, examines the real causes of the foreclosure crisis and how to rebuild a sustainable U.S. housing finance system.

Her presentation is available online at www.ccc.unc.edu.

The UNC Center for Community Capital is the leading center for research and policy analysis on the transformative power of capital on households and communities in the United States. The center is part of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Its in-depth analyses help policymakers, advocates and the private sector find sustainable ways to expand economic opportunity to more people, more effectively. For more information, visit www.ccc.unc.edu or call (919) 843-2140.