As 2008 draws to a close, more than 2 million families have already lost their homes or are facing foreclosure. A protracted homeownership crisis will harm both families and entire communities alike and threatens to weaken an already besieged national economy. Yet as policymakers agree to spend billions of dollars to shock the economy back to life, they seem less committed to searching for an effective policy response to address the foreclosure storm and resurrect a responsible housing finance system.
One policymaker has stood out in the search for creative policy solutions. Join us on Dec. 17 to hear FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair share her perspective from the front lines of the economic crisis and offer her vision of how to make responsible homeownership work in the future. Chairman Bair has been making a forceful case for a systematic and streamlined approach to loan modifications that will help keep millions of Americans from being displaced by loan defaults and foreclosure.
The event will also feature new and groundbreaking research from the Center for Community Capital at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that provides a roadmap for making responsible homeownership work, even among lower-income families. Funded by the Ford Foundation, this research evaluates the experience of an innovative program of the Self-Help organization in North Carolina and highlights the potential of linking borrowers with safe and appropriate mortgage products. Join the New America Foundation and the Center for Community Capital for an insightful discussion with implications for the future of homeownership policy.
Featured Speaker Sheila Bair
Chairman
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Welcome Ray Boshara
Vice President, Domestic Policy Programs; Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation
Presenters Roberto G. Quercia
Director, Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Michal Grinstein-Weiss
Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Janneke Ratcliff
Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Respondents Eric Stein President Center for Community Self-Help
Mark Willis Visiting Scholar
Ford Foundation
Ellen Seidman
Financial Services Policy Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation
Reid Cramer
Research Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation
Co-sponsored by New America Foundation and the Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
* This event will be webcast LIVE on the event page*
For questions, contact Stephanie Gunter at (202) 986-2700 x 340 or gunter@newamerica.net
A Capital Ideais published by the UNC Center for Community Capital as a resource for policymakers, advocates and private-sector partners interested in finding sustainable ways to expand economic opportunity to more people, more effectively.
