Invitation to Warming Shelter Discussion 8/10

Tina Haffeman of Oshkosh ESTHER shared the following invitation with the Winnebagoland Housing Coalition:

You are invited to begin a community discussion on the creation of a warming shelter in Oshkosh

Oshkosh ESTHER, a local interfaith group, has been researching the possibility of establishing a warming shelter here in Oshkosh. Fr. Carr’s Place 2B provides emergency shelter but does not provide warming shelter services to those with alcohol or drug addictions, mental illness, or a criminal background. The need for such a shelter has become apparent after discussion with many agencies and individuals in Oshkosh including many members of the Winnebagoland Housing Coalition. We are currently exploring possibilities for such a shelter and, at this point, feel that a conversation needs to held with as many community stakeholders as possible.

Therefore, Oshkosh ESTHER would like to invite you to participate in an Oshkosh ESTHER warming shelter meeting on Tuesday, August 10th at 4:00 at Trinity Episcopal Parish Hall at 311 Division (behind the church).

At this meeting, we will:
*share our research on how area cities have addressed this shelter issue and the progress we have made to date exploring the idea of a warming shelter on Oshkosh
*work to establish a coalition to work together on the issue
*establish a strategy to raise public awareness of the definition of a warming shelter, the need for one in Oshkosh, and possible options
*brainstorm and gather input from stakeholders on the next steps to take

Please consider attending this meeting or finding someone from your organization to attend. If you are interested, but cannot attend, please contact Tina Haffeman so that you can be kept informed of progress. Contact Tina Haffeman via email at thaffeman@new.rr.com or by phone at 235.5918 with questions or concerns.

August 2010 Coalition Meeting Agenda

The August 4, 2010 Winnebagoland Housing Coalition Agenda is available for download and printing here.

Summer Point in Time-7/28/2010

As you may recall a summer POINT IN TIME count is scheduled for Wednesday July 28, 2010. See below for the links to download the forms that ADVOCAP has shared for the summer count. Please complete these forms on July 28, 2010 and return them to ADVOCAP before August 2, 2010. Any questions about the POINT IN TIME count should be directed to Tom Eckvall at ADVOCAP- tome@advocap.org .

Patty Loosen reports that the POINT IN TIME street count will proceed, and that 3 volunteer teams will be helping with the count. Thanks to Patty for her leadership in making this street count a reality! Special thanks to the volunteers teams also! I am excited to hear the results of this summer count.

Point in Time Cover Letter
Point in Time Survey 2010

July 2010 Meeting Minutes

Download a copy of the July 2010 Winnebagoland Housing Coalition minutes here as recorded by Amy Lang.

2nd Quarter 2010 Foreclosure Data Now Available

Professor Andrew B. Lewis Community Development Specialist for UW Extension just shared the following information:

"The second quarter (Q2) foreclosure case data is now available for 71 of the 72 Counties in Wisconsin (Portage County is not included but we will include their annual numbers at the end of the year as they do not report to Circuit Court Access Program). The data is in Excel format and is attached to this message, and can be found at:
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/economies/communityindicators/Indicators_Links.cfm#q2_2010

Not that one quarter establishes a trend, but there is some encouraging news in the second quarter data:
Wisconsin (Number of foreclosure cases minus duplicates):
Q2 ’09 – Q2 ’10 = -1.1%
Q1 ’10 – Q2 ’10 = -12.0%
Jan-June ’09 – Jan-June ’10 = +0.7%
The collection of this data has been funded by the Access to Affordable Housing Team in Family Living and has been collected by Dr. Russ Kashian at U.W. Whitewater and Ryan Wade at Marquette University. If you look at the raw data you will see that we have reported both the gross number of civil cases in the state as well as a "corrected" total that adjusts for multiple cases involving the same property ("minus duplicates"). I have created pivot charts that allow the user to select the counties they are interested in analyzing and then create a chart to illustrate the data.

One important note…just because a property has entered the foreclosure process does not necessarily mean that the property will be foreclosed. However, we feel that this is the best publicly available trend data on foreclosures."

Facing Eviction-Tenants in Foreclosed Properties

Patti Vickman of the Oshkosh Area School District shared the recent "Spotlight on Poverty Update." An article in the latest issue that may be of interest to coalition members is titled "Facing Eviction: Protecting Tenants Living in Foreclosed Properties", by Geraldine Doetzer, Housing Attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

Read the full article here, or scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to a printable version of this article.

Beverly was doing everything right. A Cincinnati resident, she paid her rent on time and thought of herself as a good tenant and neighbor. It wasn’t until she returned home after a weekend with family to discover that she was locked out that she realized something was very wrong.*

Over the next few days, Beverly learned that her building had been foreclosed upon and had to hire a lawyer to regain access to her own apartment. Once inside, she discovered that the new owners had disposed of all of her belongings, from furniture to personal effects.

Through no fault of her own, Beverly was suddenly homeless.

What she may not have known is how common her story has become. Despite media focus on suburban homeowners and subprime speculators, 40 percent of families facing eviction due to foreclosure are renters, and 7 million households living on very low incomes (31 - 50 percent of Area Median Income) are at risk of foreclosure.

The catastrophe of a foreclosure can be even more devastating for tenants, who are both more likely to be poor and almost entirely at the mercy of their landlords for information.

Between 2007 and 2008 there was a 3.8 percent increase in the share of families that moved from living in a rental situation to living in a homeless shelter, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) 2008 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress. This large increase may reflect the effect of the foreclosure crisis on renters.

Even if a tenant can determine a property’s successor, it is often a large financial institution with little interest or expertise in managing property. The former landlord typically disappears, leaving utility bills but taking the security deposit.

Until last year, tenants like Beverly had almost no legal protections because, in 49 states, leases terminated at foreclosure. In response to advocacy by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (the Law Center—where I am the Housing Attorney) and other groups, President Obama signed the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) in May 2009.

The PTFA is the first law to grant federal protections to tenants living in foreclosed properties, including the right to receive a minimum of 90 days’ notice before being required to leave the property. In most cases, tenants have the right to remain in their homes until the end of their leases.

While these protections are vitally important, the PTFA is hardly perfect. At the federal level, no single body is responsible for implementation or enforcement. Although HUD, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Reserve have all issued guidance, the alphabet soup of overlapping federal agencies adds to the chaos of an already muddled process.

A year after its enactment, tenants around the country are mired in litigation with lenders over violations ranging from blatantly illegal evictions to inaccurate notices and fishy "cash for keys" deals. Meanwhile, owners often fail to communicate with tenants, an information vacuum that goes hand-in-hand with poor building maintenance.

In June, the Law Center released Staying Home: The Rights of Renters Living in Foreclosed Properties, a report detailing laws passed at both the federal and state levels to protect these tenants’ rights since February 2009. Since then, 16 states have passed new laws relating to tenants at foreclosure. States from Maryland to Missouri clarified the timing and content of the notice, while a handful of legislatures recognized the quality-of-life issues that spring up during foreclosure. New York now requires that the successor-in-interest continue to maintain the property, while Maine and Wisconsin allow tenants to withhold rent if the property is not adequately maintained.

The Law Center applauds these actions, but there is much to be done before all tenants are adequately protected. HUD, the Departments of Veterans Affairs and the Treasury, and other federal agencies must establish a uniform system to track and respond to violations. Regulatory bodies like the OCC have a responsibility to monitor banks, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the scope and authority to take action against non-bank actors. Needless to say, banks and other businesses involved in the foreclosure process have a responsibility to educate themselves about the law and adequately self-police.

State legislatures must enact new laws, or pass pending legislation, to affirmatively expand the PTFA. Particularly important are laws that would clarify and expand the notice requirements, so that tenants are promptly notified that their homes are subject to foreclosure but that they do not have to move immediately. State attorneys general should target those at odds with the law with cease and desist actions or litigation.

Finally, advocates can expand efforts to educate tenants, landlords, and housing court judges about the PTFA and relevant state laws. Because illegal evictions often happen quickly, it is important to identify and reach out to vulnerable populations as soon as possible. Grassroots advocates should consider forming statewide coalitions to better facilitate these efforts.

Most urgently, Congress must make the PTFA permanent. The law is set to expire on December 31, 2012. With no possibility of a meaningful economic recovery by that date, many renters will be facing an even worse environment without the basic rights provided by the PTFA. Lawmakers must not ignore the millions of tenants whose homes are at risk through no fault of their own.

Geraldine Doetzer is the Housing Attorney at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

*Name has been changed to protect the individual’s privacy.

Download a printable version of this article here.

Salvation Army Social Service Program Update 7/10

Melinda Heilman, Business Administrator for the Salvation Army provided an update on the Salvation Army's Social Service Programs during the July 2010 Winnebagoland Housing Coalition meeting. As a part of her report, Melinda shared a summary handout. To download a copy of this handout click here.

News from Habitat for Humanity Oshkosh!

Habitat for Humanity has announced plans for opening a ReStore! The new store is located at 1640 S Koeller St., Oshkosh.

What is a ReStore?
Habitat’s ReStore resale outlets sell reusable and surplus building materials to the public While every ReStore is a little different, most focus on home improvement goods like furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances. ReStores accept donated goods which are sold to the general public at a fraction of the retail price. The proceeds help local Habitat affiliates fund the construction of Habitat homes within their communities.Promoting reuse and recyclingReStores provide an environmentally and socially responsible way to keep good, reusable materials out of the waste stream while providing funding for Habitat’s community improvement work.

Visit the Oshkosh Habitat for Humanity website at http://www.habitatoshkosh.org/ or call (920)230-3535 for more information. You can also send an electronic message to restore@habitatoshkosh.org

Conflict Resolution through Mediation

Kristi Bradish, Executive Director of the Winnebago Conflict Resolution Center provided information on their mediation services, as well as specific information about the new foreclosure mediation program that has been launched. I thought a summary post of some of the Conflict Resolution Center's services and contact information might be a useful reference. Read on for more information.

What is Mediation?
If you have a conflict or disagreement that you cannot resolve yourself, mediation may be the answer. Mediation helps you and your disputant(s) resolve your differences skillfully and effectively. During mediation, you will discuss the issues important to you and determine the outcome yourselves. The concerns of each party in the dispute will be clarified with the help of trained, impartial mediators. The mediators will encourage clear and constructive discussions, but will not impose a solution on you. You will be assisted in finding a solution that is acceptable to everyone in the conflict. Quicker and cheaper than going to court, mediation produces a more satisfying and longer lasting solution. There is no charge for our service.
The Mediation Session
Begins...by giving all parties a chance to tell about their sides of the conflict.
Continues...by helping all parties to reach an acceptable solution.
Ends...with a written contract describing the agreement you have reached.

Types of Disputes We Can Help With
· Small Claims (Property damage, accidents, vandalism, small debts, harassment, etc.)
· Neighbor Problems (Such as noise, pet, neighbor relations, parking, etc.)
· Domestic Problems (Involving family members, friends, or roommates)
· Juvenile Disputes (Conflicts between youth, as well as between youth and adults)
· Consumer/Merchant (Product or service satisfaction. Landlord/tenant
· Worksite (Employer/employee, among workers)
· Property Division (Personal or business relationships disputes)
· Foreclosure-visit the Winn. Cty Clerk of Courts page here for more information.

Click here for information on the Legal Assistance clinic that Kristi discussed.
Call (920) 236-4711 Monday - Friday, or stop in the office in the Winnebago Courthouse, 415 Jackson Street in Oshkosh for more information. Website http://www.mediationwcrc.org/

Self Sufficiency Data for Oshkosh

You may recall that some months back Patti Vickman of the Oshkosh Area School District and Sue Panek of the Oshkosh Area United Way presented information on a grassroots initiative called the Self Sufficiency Project. The group has a few different subcommittees working on tasks to further the work of the group.

One such subcommittee, the "Dashboard" team has assembled local data on "self-sufficiency" in the Oshkosh area. I thought that you might be interested in this data.

Visit the webpage at: http://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org/community/selfsufficiency
The introduction to the page is as follows:
"Everyday thousands of low-income children and families are struggling to become self-sufficient. They're faced with the hard realities of low-wage work, child care problems, insufficient access to health care, food insecurity, and homelessness.

The data found on this webpage presents a snapshot of the Oshkosh community, including Winneconne and Omro, on issues that impact the ability of an individual or family to be self-sufficient (i.e. employment, housing, health care, food and child care)."

Salvation Army Report 10/2009

As you may have noted from the July 2010 Winnebagoland Housing Coalition agenda Melinda Heilman, Business Administrator of the Salvation Army spoke with us about the Salvation Army's "2009 Program and Needs Study," Download a PDF copy of the Salvation Army's "2009 Program and Needs Study" Part One here and Part Two here .

Please note that the Page numbers in the portion of the Needs Study labeled above as "Part Two" jump from page 56- page 89. This page numbering is correct, as the Salvation Army extracted confidential data prior to making the report available to community partners.

FISC- "Facing Foreclosure" Workshop

Kristi Clover of the Fair Housing Center of NE Wisconsin shared the following message about an upcoming foreclosure prevention workshop coming to Oshkosh.

FISC Consumer Credit Counseling announces their new workshop schedule on "Facing Foreclosure." Workshops will regulalry be held in Oshkosh, Menasha, and Green Bay.
Click here to download the "Facing Foreclosure" workshop flyer.

FISC Consumer Credit Counselor Dana Berger says the target audience of this workshop is "anyone going through foreclosure, nearing foreclosure or for anyone who wants to prevent foreclosure." She describes the workshop as "very comprehensive and thorough and provides a wealth of information about foreclosure and foreclosure prevention options."