One of the biggest antipoverty initiatives in President Barack Obama’s budget is his proposal to “make work pay” for low-income families through improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which will be considered after Memorial Day.

These two policies will make a huge difference in lifting working families out of poverty. However, improvements to both the CTC and the EITC are set to expire at the end of 2010 without immediate Congressional action to preserve and build upon these vital programs.

To learn more about what is at stake in the months to come and find out what you can do to help build the campaign to preserve these critical tax credits, listen to an English- or Spanish-language podcast with Reverend David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World.

From the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a Half in Ten partner -

Take Action Now:
Call 202-224-3121 and urge your representative to support the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act (H.R. 1106), which would assist in stabilizing our economy by letting homeowners modify their mortgages in bankruptcy court and reduce foreclosures.

As early as this Thursday, March 5, the House of Representatives could vote on a broad package of initiatives in the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act (H.R. 1106). This bill is designed to help end our financial crisis by reducing the massive number of families losing their homes to foreclosure. It is estimated that 6,600 families are losing their homes to foreclosure every single day. Last week, President Obama announced his support for these initiatives.

A critical component of H.R. 1106 would provide homeowners with a final option to prevent foreclosure through the Chapter 13 bankruptcy process by setting up realistic and affordable mortgage payment plans. This last resort gives homeowners, local communities, and the economy an opportunity to recover from this current crisis, without cost to taxpayers.

We can’t end the financial crisis without stemming the rising tide of foreclosures. Call 202-224-3121 and urge your representative to support the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act (H.R. 1106), which would assist in stabilizing our economy by letting homeowners modify their mortgages in bankruptcy court and reduce foreclosures.

Click here to find out more information about H.R. 1106.

March 3, 2009

The Center for American Progress has summarized key features of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, the Obama Administration’s housing and anti-foreclosure bill. Click here to read the CAP brief.

February 19, 2009

Half in Ten partner ACORN applauded the Obama Administration’s housing bill today, noting that it contains many essential elements of ACORN’s memo to the Obama Administration: Housing for America: Roadmap Out of the Crisis.

Said ACORN CEO, Bertha Lewis: “Finally, a President who is a friend of homeowners when it counts.”

Click here to read the full article from ACORN.

Click here to read ACORN’s report, Housing for America.

February 9, 2009

From the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a Half in Ten partner-

As the economic recession deepens and more people are laid off of work, welfare assistance for families is failing to pick up the slack.

Last year, 18 states reduced the number of families that receive assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, according to a New York Times analysis of state figures. Read more »

By Jon Hurdle
Reuters

Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators said on Friday a program that has helped many homeowners in the Philadelphia area to avoid foreclosure could be a model for rescuing thousands of strapped borrowers nationwide.

Sens. Arlen Specter and Robert Casey held a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Philadelphia to hear how the city was able to prevent foreclosure of about 80 percent of homes referred to the program in its first three months.
Read more »

By Paul Jackson
HousingWire.com

New Jersey state officials last week said they would begin to roll out a program requiring mandatory mediation on certain foreclosure proceedings, the latest effort by local government officials to stanch a growing tide of foreclosures. New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said in a press statement that the program would provide mediators to help homeowners and lenders negotiate with one another and try to work out agreements to avoid foreclosures.
Read more »

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) will host a hearing, “Keeping Families In Their Homes: How to Prevent Foreclosures – Part II” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, October 24 at 10 am. The Committee will hear from several witnesses about the housing mediation program that has been successful in reducing foreclosures in Philadelphia.
Read more »

By the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights’ Karen Tanenbaum

On September 10, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and the Advertising Council released a series of public service announcements, or PSAs, designed to educate consumers about predatory lending practices and how they can protect themselves from these practices.
Read more »

By Jon Hurdle
Reuters

With the U.S. financial system in crisis due to surging mortgage defaults, a Philadelphia program designed to reduce foreclosure sales may provide a national model to keep people in their homes.

The program, based not on bailouts but reconciliation between borrowers and lenders, has been able to prevent at least temporarily the disposal of many of the properties in its purview.

The first such city-sponsored plan in the United States, it has also saved banks money because it is cheaper to renegotiate than foreclose.
Read more »