Released: April 12, 2007

$1 Billion pledged to help fend off foreclosures

Source: Dina ElBoghdady and Nell Henderson, Washington Post

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, an 18-year-old housing advocacy group, yesterday announced it would commit $1 billion to refinancing the loans of lower-income people at risk of losing their homes.

The financing will come from CitiGroup and Bank of America, which have been lending money for years to borrowers screened by the nonprofit group. NACA, of Boston, said it had helped put 50,000 people in homes since its creation.

“If we put people in the front door and they’re being forced out the back door, then we’re not stabilizing neighborhoods, which is part of our mission,” said Bruce Marks, the group’s chief executive.

The announcement comes as lawmakers, lenders and others with a stake in the housing sector scramble to stave off a wave of foreclosures. Foreclosures and delinquencies are rising largely because of problems in the subprime segment of the mortgage market, which caters to people with blemished credit records, little money for a down payment or other factors that put them at greater risk of default.

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