Director's Message
August 28, 2009

To: Employees and Partners of Oregon Housing and Community Services

From: Victor Merced

• Reminder: Housing Opportunity Meetings
• Foreclosures and Unemployment Linked to Homelessness
  
  

Reminder: Housing Opportunity Meetings

The Housing Opportunity Bill Implementation Forums will soon be upon us, and you are invited. Please put the nearest one on your calendar.

The meetings will provide you a chance to help shape how Oregon Housing and Community Services implements House Bill 2436, which provides a dedicated source of revenue for our agency.

The forums are scheduled for:

• Roseburg, 1 – 4 p.m., Monday, September 21 —
  Douglas County Commissioners’ Chambers
  Room 216  
  1036 SE Douglas
  
  
• Bend, 1 – 4 p.m., Wednesday, September 23 —
  Deschutes County Government Building   
  Barnes Sawyer Room
  1300 N.W. Wall
  (Corner of Lafayette and the Parkway)
  
  
• Pendleton, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Thursday, September 24 —
  Pendleton Parks and Recreation Center
  Foundation Room, Gymnasium Building,
  west of City Hall
  500 SW Dorion
  
  
• Portland, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 29 —
  The Portland Building
  2nd Floor Auditorium
  1120 SW 5th Avenue
  
  
• Salem, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m., Friday, October 9 —
  North Mall Office Building
  Room 124A
  725 Summer St. NE

We welcome your written comments on implementing HB 2436. Send them to:

Lisa Joyce, Manager of Policy and Communication
Re: Housing Opportunity Bill Implementation Forum
Oregon Housing and Community Services
725 Summer St. NE, Suite B
Salem, OR 97301
Lisa.joyce@state.or.us
503-986-0951

Check our Web site for more information: www.ohcs.oregon.gov.

Foreclosures and Unemployment Linked to Homelessness

Foreclosures. Unemployment. Homelessness.

These factors continue to dominate headlines throughout Oregon.
Their interrelationship nationally is documented in a report recently released by a consortium of homelessness advocacy groups.

In Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009, researchers draw on foreclosure, employment and homelessness data, along with surveys of service providers nationwide to get a clear understanding of the link between foreclosure activity and homelessness.

Separate Oregon statistics bring the study’s findings home —

Foreclosures are occurring at record-setting high rates and continue to rise dramatically in our state:

• In the second quarter of 2009, the foreclosure rate in Oregon was its highest yet at 2.59 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
  
  
• Added to that, the association again reported the highest rate of foreclosure-starts in a quarter in Oregon since beginning its data collection in 1979. This reflects a 7 percent increase over the previous quarter, during the same time that national foreclosure starts decreased.
  
  
• Recent information from RealtyTrac shows Oregon had a 16 percent increase in foreclosures this past July over the previous month vs. a 7 percent increase nationally. 
  
  
• Earlier, RealtyTrac reported upwards of 19,000 foreclosures occurring in the first half of this year.

Unemployment rates place Oregon near the top of the list, tied for fourth place:

• July's unemployment rate for the state is 11.9 percent reflecting a
  700 job decline.
  
  
•  In June, Oregon ranked third in the nation and experienced a loss of 3,400 jobs.
  
  
• Many Oregon counties experienced unemployment rates well above the statewide average this July. Crook County: 18.7 percent. Harney: 17.5 percent.

Homelessness is continuing to increase in Oregon, highest in the nation:

• In our state’s January 2009 one-night homeless count, 37 percent more people experiencing homelessness were counted than in the year prior.
  
  
• Twenty-two percent of households indicated they had been unable to afford rent and 34 percent said unemployment caused their homelessness. [Foreclosure was not provided as a specific choice.]
  
  
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, released last month, shows Oregon with the highest per capita homelessness in the country.

The authors of Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009 surveyed service providers nationwide, finding that around 10 percent of persons who are homeless identified foreclosure as a reason for their homelessness.

Service providers in Oregon have told us much the same. One case manager from Union County reported: “We have noticed that more families are seeking housing assistance due to layoffs and foreclosures. The people who are coming have never had to ask for assistance before…”

OHCS and its partners are implementing a variety of strategies to respond to these hardships. They include foreclosure-mitigation counseling, Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing, weatherization and affordable-housing development, all of which I’ve discussed at length in past bulletins.

Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins.
~ Ted Kennedy

Victor Merced, Director
Phone 503.986.2005
Email: victor.merced@hcs.state.or.us
www.ohcs.oregon.gov

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