This Thanksgiving Season Senator Kevin S. Parker And Senator Jeff D. Klein Presented $120,000 To Help Keep Families In Their Homes

BROOKLYN, NY—Today, just in time for the holiday season, Senator Kevin S. Parker was joined by Senator Jeff D. Klein and more than a dozen local housing advocates, as he presented Housing and Family Services of Greater New York with a check for $120,000. The funding is aimed at fighting the ongoing foreclosure crisis affecting many homeowners within the 21^st Senate District.  The presentation was held in front of the home of Judith Alexander, a long-time resident of the district and who was just months away from facing foreclosure.

“The impact of the subprime foreclosure crisis has been disastrous for many families undermining the stability and vibrancy of our communities,” said Senator Parker. “Brooklyn was one of the hardest hit areas during the subprime lending crisis, and although the practice has slowed due to state and federal regulations, some homeowners in my district are still finding it difficult to bounce back.  The Senator continued, “Presenting this funding to Housing and Family Services of Greater New York with my colleague Senator Klein is a testament to our shared commitment to funding community organizations like Housing and Family Services of Greater New York that work tirelessly everyday to keep families in their homes.”

The funding allocated by Senators Parker and Klein will help mitigate the pressures and challenges faced by tenants subjected to willful neglect and harassment by landlords who are trying to force them to vacate their apartments, and homeowners preyed on by banks and servicers who do not want to provide them with access to mitigation programs provided by law. To date, Housing and Family Services of Greater New York has spearheaded several housing support programs—from the renovation of decrepit tenements, helping tenants access entitlements to the enabling of hundreds of families to stay in their homes including homeowners Judith Alexander, Pamela Taylor and Petrona McCausland, who also participated in today’s event.

“I would like to thank Housing and Family Services of Greater New York for their commitment, dedication and hard work saving my home from foreclosure,” said Ms. Alexander.  “They worked with me for a year to ensure that my family would be able to stay in the home we lived in for 16 years.”

“For 44 years, Housing and Family Services of Greater New York has been committed to saving neighborhoods and communities one building at a time - whether a homeowner facing foreclosure or a distressed 100-unit apartment building.” said Larry Jayson, Executive Director of Housing and Family Services of Greater New York.

“Communities are preserved and thrive when homeowners, building owners and tenants coordinate their activities. The foreclosure crisis has made it very evident that failing homeownership can threaten a neighborhood as do distressed multiple dwellings. I want to thank Senators Parker and Klein for ensuring that agencies like Housing and Family Services of the Greater New York can continue doing the work we do everyday helping people stay in their homes. We are particularly proud of our efforts on behalf of senior and disabled tenants having established a campaign to make sure that they were aware of the increase in the wage limit for the Senior and Disabled Citizen Rent Increase Exemption. Over the past year more than 1,000 senior and disabled residents have been assisted in obtaining this benefit that gives them the ability to continue to afford their housing,” Jayson continued.

The Parker/Klein partnership has rendered critical help to homeowners in the past as the legislators have joined together to host several foreclosure prevention forums throughout the city - aimed at protecting homeowners from falling prey to unscrupulous companies.

Senator Klein, the Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader who also passed several critical foreclosure protection bills added, "Since passing landmark foreclosure legislation to protect vulnerable homeowners in 2009, I continue to work to protect families facing foreclosure. I'm proud that my legislation developed a process for families to stay in their homes after foreclosure proceedings and granted settlement conferences before court proceedings commence.  My longtime partnership with the Housing and Family Service Center of Greater New York has helped families in crisis here in Brooklyn and throughout all of New York City. I know that they will continue to counsel families who are on the brink of losing their homes and keep them from that devastation.”

Noting the significance of the funding to support families still in the grips of the foreclosure crisis, Christie Peale, Executive Director at the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, applauded the effort while noting that it will take a combined effort in government to save more families, "Thank you Senator Klein and Senator Parker for your continued support of non-profits that are still hard at work combating the foreclosure crisis.  We also thank Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose Homeowner Protection Program has been absolutely critical in funding this important work across the state. Despite fading in the headlines, New York City still faces a serious foreclosure crisis, and funding these programs is critical to protecting affordable homeownership and building strong, thriving communities."

Housing advocacy organizations that participated in today’s presentation included Erasmus Neighborhood Federation, Flatbush Development Corp., Brooklyn Legal Services, and Neighborhood and Housing Services of East Flatbush.

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ABOUT SENATOR KEVIN PARKER

State Senator Kevin S. Parker is committed to restoring the overall quality of life for the constituents of the 21st Senatorial District in Brooklyn. A lifelong Brooklyn resident, Senator Parker has been a Flatbush resident for more than 31 years -- nurtured, educated, and employed in the borough. Senator Parker is intimately familiar with the needs of the 21st District, which consists of many diverse communities: Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace, and Park Slope. MORE:  https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/kevin-s-parker/about

ABOUT HOUSING AND FAMILY SERVICES OF GREATER NEW YORK:

Since 1971 when founded as Flatbush Tenants’ Council with iterations as Brooklyn Tenants’ Council and then Brooklyn Housing and Family Services, Housing and Family Services of Greater New York has focused its attention on housing change throughout the city — eliminating unfair, unsafe and inhuman housing – building by building. Deterioration has been reversed in countless distressed, privately owned buildings, which have been restored to structural soundness and fiscal solvency. Several years ago, first by providing Fair Housing Services on Staten Island and then opening offices in   and then in the Bronx their services expanded to provide housing services throughout New York City. Each year thousands of residents retain their homeownership, access entitlements that prevent their evictions or see improvement in their living conditions while building maintenance and service delivery have been restored to habitable levels.

In 2006 we established our predatory lending/foreclosure prevention program to identify predators and to find help victims of predatory lending find relief and retain their homes. The economic downturn of 2008 brought distress to many minority and senior homeowners who have been the hardest hit by under and unemployment over the past 7 years. Assisting more than 4,000 homeowners directly through counseling and in court, our housing counselors have used a wide range of programs that resulted in modifications of mortgage terms, grants of assistance and principal reductions making homes again affordable. Homeowners unable to stay in their homes are offered relocation assistance to affordable housing in their neighborhood avoiding homelessness and total family upheaval. Foreclosure prevention efforts have been funded by the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program, the New York State Housing Trust Fund, the New York State Attorney General's Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) and the Center for New York City Neighborhoods.

MORE: http://brooklynhousing.org

As of November 2015, 4,448 homes in the 21^st Senate District are facing the threat of foreclosure. (See chart below):