To Safeguard Homes in California, Promote Affordability Through the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program
California’s recently formed Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program (FIHPP) is poised to fund nonprofit housing groups to buy rental properties in or at risk of foreclosure and quickly convert them to long-term affordable housing. Now, FIHPP is hanging in the legislative balance. LISC’s Tahirih Zigler and Enterprise Community Partners’ Jacqueline Waggoner weigh in on the imperative of safeguarding the program to help spare many Californians from the preventable tragedies of displacement and homelessness.
The excerpt below was originally published in:
Prioritizing Affordability Through the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program
By Jacqueline Waggoner, Enterprise Community Partners and Tahirih Ziegler, LISC
Thousands of Californians every year are in jeopardy of losing their homes because their landlords are in foreclosure or are not adequately maintaining their property. These at-risk members of our communities – including children – are more likely to be lower-income and are vulnerable to displacement or falling into homelessness.
Instead of letting these households succumb to the uncertainty of California’s real estate market, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California State Legislature wisely approved the creation of and authorized funding for the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program (FIHPP) in 2021.
Just as these critical funds are poised to reach communities and make a difference, FIHPP funding was recommended to be eliminated last week in the Governor's revised May budget proposal. This short-sighted decision squanders years of work to build the expertise and infrastructure to deploy the funding effectively and efficiently in communities and keep Californians safely housed.
FIHPP funds nonprofit housing organizations to purchase rental properties in or at risk of foreclosure, allowing them to quickly convert into long-term affordable housing. However, in the face of an estimated statewide budget deficit of tens of billions, FIHPP is on the chopping block, with the $500 million program budget at risk of elimination.
Last year alone, over 31,000 FIHPP-eligible properties statewide received a notice of default, putting families at high risk of displacement.
Without intervention, as we saw during the 2008 housing crisis, foreclosed properties are easy targets for bad actor landlords and investors who double and triple rents, evict families, and flip properties for resale or rent at higher rates. These transactions contribute to our extreme and worsening state homelessness crisis by eliminating some of the few remaining affordable homes available on the private market.
Continue to full article [+]...
About the Author
Tahirih Ziegler, Senior Vice President, Field Excellence.
Tahirih Ziegler is a Detroit native and the National Market Excellence Division Senior Vice President since 2022. Ms. Ziegler’s role is to manage and lead the team that oversees the community development programs and investment in the LISC footprint. From 2021-2022, she held the role of Midwest Vice President and had oversight of nine urban LISC offices. Prior to her Midwest role, Ms. Ziegler led a diverse team in Detroit to deploy over $150 million of LISC grants, loans, and resources into Detroit’s revitalization during her eleven-year tenure as Executive Director around lending investments, financial opportunity, and housing stabilization.