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WHEREAS, since the beginning of the housing crisis in 2007, some 5 million families have lost their homes to foreclosure, which has caused state and local governments to face crippling budget crises; and
WHEREAS, our City continues to face too many foreclosures, which have a negative social and economic impact on the affected families, neighborhoods, and our city as a whole; and
WHEREAS, our City is facing high rents and a scarcity of affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are selling off pools of delinquent mortgages, most often to Wall Street speculators; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh sponsored a resolution by the U.S. Conference of Mayors urging the sale of severely delinquent mortgages to nonprofits for foreclosure prevention and affordable housing strategies; and
WHEREAS, Certain mission-based nonprofits and their affiliates have raised the necessary capital to compete in this market, purchasing pools of delinquent mortgages for the purpose of saving homes from foreclosure and creating affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, at least several nonprofits have a track record of success, and have the capital to expand, but need help getting current note holders to sell enough of their delinquent mortgages; and
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NOW, THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Pittsburgh will communicate with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA - which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and ask them to:
1) Continually notify the City of the number of mortgages that are 90+ days delinquent that they hold in our city and the state as a whole; and
2) Meet with us to discuss the potential of selling their severely delinquent mortgages to one or more nonprofits; and
3) Commit to not sell off any mortgages in our city, and the state as a whole, to Wall Street speculators until we have worked together to attempt the sale of these precious housing assets to mission-driven nonprofits.