8/12/2019 Maura Healey - Housing Plan
2/3
2
Combat mortgage relief and foreclosure rescue scams through
monitoring, enforcement, andpublic education.
Protect consumers against the risks of reverse mortgages by
ensuring that such mortgages areproperly marketed and serviced.
Although reverse mortgages can serve as a valuable
resource,particularly for certain senior citizens, the potential
for abuse and misuse is high.
Protecting Homeowners Facing ForeclosureAs Bureau Chief, I
oversaw the implementation of the first-in-the-nation HomeCorps
program withinthe Attorney Generals Office. I know how
destabilizing foreclosure can be for families andneighborhoods. I
am committed to preventing unnecessary and illegal foreclosures and
to ensuring thathomeowners have opportunities to keep their homes.
As Attorney General, I will:
Allocate critical resources to the HomeCorps program, which has
enjoyed tremendous successbecause it brings together mortgage
modification specialists, legal aid attorneys, and social
serviceproviders to ensure that more homeowners are able to stay in
their homes.
Enforce Mandatory Loan Modifications. Under Massachusetts law, a
bank must modify apredatory mortgage loan where both the bank and
the homeowner would benefit economically
from avoiding foreclosure. I fought hard to get this bill passed
because it provides much-neededrelief to vulnerable families and
helps stabilize neighborhoods.
Encourage principal reductions wherever reasonable to maintain
loan payments and supporthomeowners.
Consider foreclosure mediation as a means of enabling homeowners
and lenders to achievemutually agreeable resolutions. A number of
states and jurisdictions have recently experimentedwith innovative
mediation programs that have the potential to reduce foreclosures
and to keephomeowners in their homes when viable alternatives
exist.
Support a law giving foreclosed homeowners a right to rent their
homes from large financialinstitutions after the foreclosure until
those homes are purchased by new buyers. TheMassachusetts
Legislatures Foreclosure Impacts Task Force, which I chaired, found
that such a
law would be feasible and would not pose an undue burden on
large financial institutions. A rightto rent law would ease
transitions for homeowners and minimize the harmful impacts
ofunnecessary vacancies on communities.
Respond to the recent phenomenon of municipalities selling or
assigning their tax liens to thirdparty debt collectors, who are
motivated to maximize their returns through foreclosures.
Thispractice particularly impacts senior homeowners, who often have
no mortgage (and thus nomortgagee that shares a vested interest in
preventing foreclosure) and may not have thewherewithal or the
capacity to make the required tax payments.
Fighting Community Blight and Irresponsible Landlords
The foreclosure crisis has left vacant homes across
Massachusetts, which are magnets for criminal
activity, harm neighborhood property values, and starve the
local tax base. One study estimates thatviolent crime within 250
feet of a foreclosed home increases by more than 15 percent once
the homebecomes vacant. Property owners who do not maintain their
homes cause problems for tenants,neighbors, and communities. They
need to be held accountable to ensure that blighted properties do
notoverrun neighborhoods. As Attorney General, I will:
Expand the work of the Abandoned Housing Initiative (AHI),
through which the AttorneyGenerals Office uses the state sanitary
code to compel property owners to rehabilitate blightedproperties.
AHI has developed strong relationships with cities and towns, which
work with the
8/12/2019 Maura Healey - Housing Plan
3/3
3
Attorney Generals Office to identify blighted properties. As
Attorney General, I will bring AHIssignificant expertise to
municipalities across the state by providing trainings and
workshops formunicipalities that wish to adopt AHIs proven model on
the local level.
Collaborate with local boards of health and inspectional
services departments to identifylandlords who routinely leave their
rental units in uninhabitable conditions, and bringenforcement
actions against them so they cannot subject their tenants to such
conditions.
Investigate the possibility of developing a modern, statewide
collaboration system that wouldallow municipalities to share
information about inspection histories and problem landlords,
toensure that a complete picture of their misconduct is
available.
Bring enforcement actions against banks and servicers that fail
to maintain properties afterforeclosure, particularly when those
properties are concentrated in communities of color.
Expanding Housing OpportunitiesSecuring affordable housing
remains a critical challenge for many families. As a 2013 report
from theMassachusetts Department of Housing and Community
Development documented, many families withlow incomes and other
limitations are forced to relegate their housing searches to
resource-poor areas. Iam committed to enhancing housing
opportunities for all residents. As Attorney General, I will:
Support efforts to reform our housing authorities to ensure that
they work efficiently andeffectively for the entire state.
Support an increase in tax credits available for deleading
properties so that landlords face fewereconomic barriers to making
their apartments safe for families with young children.
Protect individuals with disabilities by advocating for
increases in accessible and supportivehousing, and by working to
prevent local communities from blocking group homes and
othersupportive housing arrangements.
Collaborate with fair housing organizations to test realtors,
brokers, and other professionals toensure that they are not
discriminating or unlawfully steering renters away from available
units.
Dedicate resources to educating the public about their rights
under landlord/tenant, fair housing,and other laws, and to inform
them about programs and other opportunities available to
enhancehousing opportunities.
Promote the development of affordable rental housing throughout
the Commonwealth.
Promoting Opportunities for Sustainable Homeownership
Though not every family can afford to own their own home,
neighborhoods and communities are betteroff when more residents
have an ownership stake in the community. As Attorney General, I
will doeverything I can to increase opportunities for sustainable
homeownership. I will:
Collaborate with non-profits and community development
organizations to find opportunities totransition foreclosed homes
back into owner-occupied homes.
Work with MassHousing and community lenders and banks to develop
mortgage products formulti-generational and other non-traditional
familial arrangements to better meet the needs ofdiverse family
structures throughout Massachusetts.
Support organizations that offer training on financial literacy,
personal savings, andhomeownership.
Work with the Legislature and the Department of Housing and
Community Development toexpand programs that incentivize the
development of more affordable, smart growth-orientedhomes,
particularly in suburban communities and other areas with
inadequate housing.
