Oakland Foreclosure Crisis

Oakland faces a severe and worsening foreclosure crisis. According to a report issued by Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), 3,021 of the high-cost loans made in 2006 in the Oakland area are likely to go into foreclosure. As of September 2009, the volume of notices of defaults continues to rise in Oakland, topping over 10,000 since 2006. The costs to all of the stakeholders involved including homeowners, the City of Oakland, neighborhoods and lenders will be more than $875 million. The crisis is disproportionately affecting Oakland’s flatlands neighborhoods and residents. Maps produced by the Council indicate that defaults, trustee sales and bank-owned properties are all highly concentrated in City Council Districts 3, 6 and 7.

Urban Strategies Council is collaborating with a range of partners to construct a comprehensive response to the multi-faceted foreclosure crisis, which will include:

• Timely, accurate data and information at the county, city and neighborhood levels.
• Intensive outreach and education to victims and potential victims to direct them to existing resources and to help them avoid foreclosure and foreclosure rescue scams.
• More trained financial counselors and the infrastructure to support them.
• Strategies to address vacant foreclosed properties.
• Engagement of the lending industry and policy makers to negotiate their role in both addressing the current crisis and developing long term solutions.

Our particular role includes the following components:

1. Research, data analysis and mapping.
2. Development of a toolkit for the full range of stakeholders.
3. Resources for people facing foreclosures through Alameda County CAN and the development of a comprehensive foreclosure services collaborative.
4. Development of a Community Land Trust to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed properties and turn them into permanently affordable housing for low-income residents of Oakland.

For more information we have the following resources available online:

• Foreclosure Timeline Guide
• Glossary of Foreclosure terms
• Maps
• Reports
• Borrower Resources
• "Beware of Scams" Flyer
• Community Land Trust

A new resource available online with interactive maps of sub-prime loans provided by the Federal Reserve of New York: website