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Community Development

Community Development is comprised of a variety of areas that impact the stability and growth of neighborhoods and local communities, particularly low and moderate income neighborhoods and communities of color. The stability of our local communities are affected by how banks and other financial institutions invest in our communities and consumer access to affordable housing, including affordable rents or mortgages, as well as affordable homeowners’ or renters’ insurance. This section of the website provides information, resources and ways Empire Justice Center is working to assure access to housing and credit that brings stability to our communities.

ARTICLES

Insurance Information for Consumers and Homeowners
Links to information on insurance for consumers and homeowners. Read More

New Housing Task Force Will Zero In on Wall St. (The New York Times)
After failing to produce any major prosecutions stemming from the housing crisis, an expanded federal task force is planning a new tack, cracking down on financial firms suspected of improperly bundling home loans into securities for investors, officials said Wednesday. Read More


IN THE NEWS

Insurers Facing Greater Scrutiny
New York's top financial regulator is expanding an investigation of insurers that force homeowners policies on borrowers after turning up evidence that consumers were charged too much, according to people familiar with the situation. Read More


Justice Department Alleges GFI Mortgage Bankers Engaged in Illegal Lending Discrimination
The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a lawsuit alleging that GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc., a mortgage banker with operations in seven states, violated federal fair lending laws by charging African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher interest rates and fees on home mortgage loans because of their race or national origin, not based on their creditworthiness. Read More


POLICY ADVOCACY

Memorandum of Support: Amend Social Services Law § 106 to Protect the Homes of Welfare Recipients
New York is one of only two states in the nation that takes deeds and mortgages against the homes of welfare recipients to recover the public assistance paid to these homeowners. This bill would exempt persons who own and reside in one, two or three family homes from this archaic provision. If the goal of New York’s public assistance policy is to restore individuals to self-sufficiency, then it is time to pass this bill! Read More


New York Organizations Oppose Capital One's Acquisition of HSBC's Credit Card Business
Six New York legal services and consumer advocacy organizations, including Empire Justice Center, tell the OCC to deny Capital One's application to acquire HSBC's credit card and private label credit business. Read More



PUBLICATIONS

Paying More for the American Dream V
Access to mortgage refinance loans sharply declined in communities of color – and increased substantially in predominantly white neighborhoods, according to a report released today by a multistate collaboration of regional research, policy and advocacy organizations, including Empire Justice Center.... Read More

 

The Mortgage Meltdown II
New York's continuing foreclosure crisis and the need to help homeowners avoid the loss of their homes Read More

 

NEWSLETTERS

Policy Matters April 2012
Empire Justice Center’s newsletter focused solely on policy. This inaugural issue will focus on the recently passed state budget and how it will affect lower income New Yorkers, including people at risk of foreclosure, health care consumers, people with disabilities and those needing civil legal services. Read More


TRAININGS AND EVENTS

Representing Homeowners at Mandatory Settlement Conferences
Mandatory settlement conferences are now an integral component to the foreclosure process for subprime loans. The governor has signed a new law that expands the settlement conferences to all residential loans. Pro Bono lawyers have been approved to represent homeowners for the limited capacity of these settlement conferences. This training addresses important considerations for lawyers willing to represent homeowners in this capacity. Read More

New Approaches to Stabilizing Homeowners and Communities in Western NY
This taped broadcast is geared towards housing counselors, legal services organizations, lenders, public officials, community-based organizations, and anyone who is concerned with the impact of the foreclosure crisis on homeowners and neighborhoods in the western part of the State. Discussion topics include information about housing counseling standards, specialized foreclosure trainings, State programs addressing the foreclosure issue, and successful approaches to reducing foreclosures, among other topics. Read More