Urban Affairs Association – Annual Meeting Using Neighborhood Data to Support Foreclosure Prevention and Intervention Urban Affairs Association – Annual Meeting March 7, 2009 MCIC (Metro Chicago Information Center) 17 N. State Street, Suite 1600 Chicago, IL 60602 www.mcic.org

MCIC (Metro Chicago Information Center) Our purpose Nonprofit, independent research and consulting firm since 1990 Our philosophy Better information produces better decisions Focus on quality of life issues and human needs Nonprofit, independent research and consulting firm Work nationally, but with focus on the Chicago metropolitan area Research guided by belief that better information produces better decisions Conduct quantitative and qualitative research on a variety of quality of life issues: community and economic development, health and human services, education, arts and culture Brief context of foreclosure prevention activities in Chicago Talk about the focus MCIC has taken in its effort to contribute to foreclosure prevention through data collection and research Talk about some things we’ve learned and issues identified that need further thought and exploration – our foreclosure work like everyone else, is a work in progress. We are still collection data and conducting analysis. So while we don’t have final research findings, I will share our thoughts so far in this process and things we learned that we can help counseling agencies other foreclosure prevention advocates moving forward Helping those doing good…do better

Research and Prevention in Chicago Source: Chicago Sun-Times, 3/3/09 Regional Homeownership Preservation Initiative (RHOPI) Collaboration between counseling agencies, planning entities, financial institutions, research organizations and other partners Four working groups: Homeowner/Homebuyer Counseling Refinance and Financial Resources Foreclosed Properties Research. Much of the foreclosure prevention activities are organized around the RHOPI initiative (Regional Homeownership Preservation Initiative) Based on HOPI model developed by NHS of Chicago, Federal Reserve, City of Chicago Created to design and deliver foreclosure prevention and intervention services in Chicago This initiative was expanded last year to include regional partners and address the crisis throughout the Chicago metro area instead of just the city Four focus area: (1) Homeowner/Homebuyer Counseling, (2) Refinance and Financial Resources, (3) Foreclosed Properties, and (4) Research.

MCIC’s Foreclosure Research focus on helping housing counseling providers track their own prevention strategies explore counseling data in the context of foreclosure filings research in ‘real time’ Tracking neighborhood level intervention/prevention activities in the context of near real-time foreclosure filings data Goal of this focus is to help housing counselors identify the success of their efforts, track foreclosure activity in a real-time basis to allow for quick adjustments in service delivery and outreach Two research activities: mac and nnip MacArthur Foreclosure Initiative Macarthur investment strategy - $68 million in Chicago Mcic’s role in that strategy Monthly collection; partnerships with counseling agencies NNIP/UI/Fannie Mae: Contribute to fnma’s cross-site study studying what happens to households that receive foreclosure counseling; - was the property ultimately foreclosed? Look at characteristics of counseling – type of counseling, mandated (hb4050), etc. Matching counseling data to admin foreclosure data and then descriptive analysis MacArthur Foreclosure Prevention Initiative Fannie Mae cross-site applied research with Urban Institute and other NNIP partners

Tracking Foreclosure Filings Challenges with foreclosure data and methodological decisions: What to do with multiple filings? How can multiple research and housing organizations work from the same data set for efficiency and accuracy? Important part of work is identifying how best to track filed foreclosures Challenges: duplicate filings, collaborating with other Chicago organizations to work off of data processing methods. To increase efficiency and provide as accurate counts as possible

Tracking Counseling and Outreach Compiled reports provide housing counselors with an internal tracking system, and provide MacArthur with a new method investment evaluation Sample monthly report 20 reports compiled each month Data aggregated by community area Standardizing how housing counseling sessions and outcomes are tracked for 6 MacArthur grantees Sample monthly report MCIC developed; based loosely on Housing Counselor Online (HCO) software Using that monthly data to provide MacArthur with a tool to evaluate the impact of its investment, guide future investment

Tracking Counseling and Outreach, continued A deeper look at individual counseling records of one MacArthur partner organization Map is an example of how we are looking at housing counseling activities at a drill-down level Preliminary map of our NNIP work with local housing counseling agency Compiled counseling records from 2005 to 2008 and are figuring out which of those counseling records ultimately experienced a foreclosure filing Data Source: Greater Southwest Development Corporation

Putting it all together: What have we learned so far, and how can this research assist housing counseling agencies? Tracking housing counseling and foreclosure filings on a broad basis will always be an estimate due to data availability and standardization issues A meaningful and accurate method of quantifiying community organization techniques as a tool for foreclosure prevention is critical Intended Uses: Helping mac gain understanding of 1) neighborhood changes and 2) its investment , on a rolling basis…instead of getting a year-end analysis Help counseling agencies with their own data processes Eventually to see patterns (short term) between outreach and counseling and (long term) counseling and foreclosures. Four main issues to highlight at this point in the process 1) Standandizing counseling data is difficult because - agencies are using different software (HCO, etc.) - agencies are overburdened with clients, and it is very difficult to track longitudinally what happens to a client. Many times we only know when the client comes in, and then if they either have a positive resolution (loan mod, e.g.) or are foreclosed on. What happens in between is difficult to track. Clients drop out, don’t come back, etc 2) Organizing – it’s important to try and quantify the organizing prevention activities. This strategy is being using aggressively by GSDC, but it is a struggle to connect these initiatives to any outcomes.

Putting it all together, continued 3. Even considering data challenges, monthly snapshots of foreclosure prevention, intervention and filings provide a way to start identifying community trends, and inform counselors of potential need gaps and outreach opportunities 3) Taking into account the data availability issues above, this type of tracking still looks to be a promising way to determining what ultimately happens to families receiving counseling – were they able to avoid foreclosure? (Sample compiled report provided to MacArthur) Possibilities for social marketing research – what our research will ultimately provide are ideas on which types of outreach and marketing are reaching the community and what counseling trends (# clients, referral source, etc) can we see in that community. Also will be able to see if outreach initiatives are influencing the time in which families contact an agency to get help (I.e. are more clients coming in that are just in danger of becoming delinquent, instead of already in foreclosure? The idea being that the earlier a person gets help the better the possibility is of reaching a positive outcome.)

Putting it all together, continued Analyzing individual counseling data allows for deeper exploration of these relationships - research that has both programmatic and policy implications for housing counseling agencies 4. We hope that analyzing the relationship between counseling and foreclosure data will help housing advocates and counseling agencies with program strategies and also provide a communication tool for policy planning and discussions

Community Development Consultant acole@mcic.org 312.580.2592 Anne P. Cole Community Development Consultant acole@mcic.org 312.580.2592 MCIC (Metro Chicago Information Center) 17 N. State Street, Suite 1600 Chicago, IL 60602 www.mcic.org What still needs to be done/further questions, etc. All of our foreclosure work is a work in progress For NNIP project – will be conducting some additional analysis, looking at neighborhood/parcel characteristics of counseling clients based on foreclosure experience; looking at subgroups within the counseling data set, such as those clients who were mandated to receiving counseling through HB4050 For MacArthur project – we will soon have 6 months of data, so we can begin looking at trends in marketing, outreach, and clients in different neighborhoods.