Jacksonville Area Legal Aid housing counselors play critical role in city’s Foreclosure Intervention Program
Stacy Leonard and her family are one of 65 Jacksonville families JALA has assisted in the last year through the City of Jacksonville’s Foreclosure Intervention Program, which helps residents stay in their homes and stop the foreclosure process by providing mortgage counseling, direct mortgage “catch-up” assistance, loan modification and refinance counseling, and a course in budget and financial literacy.
For almost three years, Stacy Leonard had been traveling back and forth from Jacksonville to Miami to care for her mother who had suffered a stroke and was developing dementia.
As her mother’s health began failing, she also had to take over the care of a brother with disabilities, who had always been looked after by their mother. As it turned out, both mother and son developed cancer as well.
As if Leonard’s situation could not be any more difficult, she had also taken in her sister’s three preschool-aged children after her sister was confronted with eviction and homelessness.
The cost of travel and the weight of caregiving soon took a financial toll on Leonard, on top of the emotional one.
“I was Uber driving and selling things online, but it just was not enough,” said Leonard, who found herself facing foreclosure after she fell behind on her mortgage and HOA payments.
Leonard, too, was at risk of becoming homeless when, at the recommendation of a friend, she applied for help from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. That same day she received a reply.
JALA’s Joy Bryant-Baucom, a certified HUD counselor, helped Leonard prepare the documents required by the City of Jacksonville’s Foreclosure Intervention Program and met with her to review them for her and notarize them.
“She gave me clear direction on each of the documents I needed to submit to her at each stage and was very clear about the parts I would need to contribute,” Leonard said. “When Mrs. Bryant was done working on my behalf, all of my HOA fees were taken care of and my mortgage that had been months behind was caught up.”
The Leonard family is one of 65 Jacksonville families JALA has assisted in the last year through the City of Jacksonville’s Foreclosure Intervention Program, which helps residents stay in their homes and stop the foreclosure process by providing mortgage counseling, direct mortgage “catch-up” assistance, loan modification and refinance counseling, and a course in budget and financial literacy. To bring their mortgage current, eligible applicants can receive up to $12,000 in the form of a forgivable loan with no payments and no interest, provided the homeowner continues to own the home for five years.
The program, which has helped about 100 HabiJax families alone, works through a combination of funding mechanisms.
The State Housing Initiatives Partnership program (SHIP), which provides funds to local governments that can be used to produce and preserve affordable housing in a variety of ways, funds the direct financial assistance to the homeowner.
“What we have learned in this program, similar to lessons other states and cities have experienced, is that a small amount of funding in a time of emergency makes all the difference in stabilizing a family, and it is much, much cheaper for the city than homelessness,” said JALA President and CEO Jim Kowalski.
JALA Eviction Grant Manager Marissa Vetter, also a certified HUD housing counselor, said often as little as $1,500 or $2,000 can save a family’s home.
“In some cases, the family might have as little as $15,000 left on their mortgage and is suddenly confronted with a shortfall due to an unforeseen crisis,” Vetter said. “I don’t know what they’d do without this program. It’s an important way of preserving generational wealth, and really with the shortage of affordable housing and skyrocketing rents, keeping someone in their home is often the most affordable option.”
JALA’s housing counseling is funded through Jacksonville’s Foreclosure Property Registry, which was established in 2010 to keep vacant properties from blighting neighborhoods.
“When a bank files a new foreclosure, they have to deposit a small sum with the municipality to defray future loss to the municipality associated with foreclosures,” Kowalski said. Foreclosure registries exist all over the country and were a critical response to the last housing crisis.
Some of this funding supports housing counseling of the type Leonard received from JALA.
The December 2022 report of City of Jacksonville’s Special Committee on Critical Quality of Life Issues points to such foreclosure and eviction prevention programs as a solid investment.
“The City should work with and financially support the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid office in efforts to reduce eviction rates, human displacement, and homelessness,” the report states. “This should include support for The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), Eviction Diversion programs, and the Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) in conjunction with the Foreclosure Registry.”
Nancy Kinnally is CEO of the Relatable Communications Group.
