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Take action on foreclosure crisis

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By WILLIAM J. SLOTNIK

Special To The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2009

Hillsborough County needs a focused response to the foreclosure crisis to avert further harmful impacts to individuals, families and communities.

There are at least 2,341 homes in foreclosure in Hillsborough. This means that 1 out of every 220 families is losing their home. Recent reports by RealtyTrac, the nation's online source for foreclosure data, indicate that Hillsborough remains among the nation's leaders in foreclosure filings.

The effects of foreclosures on individuals and families pose a rapidly escalating threat to the stability of neighborhoods and communities. Foreclosures cause emotional stress, health problems and even loss of access to credit which can, in turn, limit housing and job options. Families dealing with these challenges need a support network to help avoid foreclosure, as well as keep families healthy, together and safe.

At the community level, everyone loses. Foreclosures precipitate a cycle of declining property values and deteriorating neighborhoods. Beyond the losses to lenders and borrowers, foreclosures erode a municipality's tax base and the flow of capital into the community. They also hasten a severe decline in a community's physical and social environment by opening the door to the wave of crime, blight and economic disinvestment that affects a community's vitality and safety.

While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is providing Hillsborough a boost with a $19 million grant to help neighborhoods deemed "at-risk," this grant is not sufficient by itself to address the crisis. A broader-based strategy is needed to transform a complex set of conditions that have been years in the making.

Hillsborough needs a community stabilization and family preservation strategy to turn the tide on the foreclosure crisis. Such a strategy should examine, coalesce and better align the resources available - funding streams, institutional capacity and policy alternatives - to maximize the impact to communities in need.

National lessons learned in community development show that there are many existing community resources that can be marshaled to respond more effectively and efficiently to the needs of families and communities in crisis. Many people in Hillsborough are willing to be engaged in shaping solutions. But as some point out, "To get anyone involved, we need to see a clear path to success."

The challenge, then, is to develop and implement such a clear path - a planned and organized effort that effectively delineates and integrates the roles of public agencies, financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, schools and residents in stabilizing and preserving the county's families and homes.

Leaders have the unprecedented opportunity to step up to the challenge of bringing all the parties together to create a blueprint for action. This is done routinely when we face hurricanes and other natural emergencies. The need has never been more urgent.

William J. Slotnik is executive director of the Community Training and Assistance Center, a national nonprofit organization with a Tampa regional office that provides technical assistance, research and evaluation, and policy support in community developme

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