Overview of Foreclosure Outreach
Door-to-door outreach
When a homeowner is sued in foreclosure in Philadelphia, an outreach worker from a community non-profit will reach out to the homeowner to encourage them to contact the Save Your Home Philly Hotline.
The outreach worker will provide the homeowner with a flier instructing the homeowner to call the Save Your Home Philly Hotline.
The Hotline will refer the homeowner to a housing counselor at an DHCD-funded housing counseling agency.
Mortgage foreclosure outreach
Every homeowner with a mortgage foreclosure case will be referred by the Hotline to a housing counselor. The housing counselor will work with the homeowner to prepare a proposal to the mortgage company for a loan modification, and will accompany the homeowner to the homeowner’s court date, which is called a Conciliation Conference.
If the homeowner has a mortgage foreclosure case, the goal of outreach is to encourage the homeowner to call the Save Your Home Philly Hotline and attend the scheduled Conciliation Conference in Room 676 of City Hall.
Real estate tax foreclosure outreach
Real estate tax foreclosure outreach is similar to mortgage foreclosure outreach, except that the scheduled court date is called a Rule Returnable Conference rather than a Conciliation Conference. The housing counselor will help the homeowner enter into an Owner Occupied Payment Agreement that will allow the homeowner to remain in the home and pay off the back taxes through an affordable monthly payment. Housing counselors do not accompany homeowners to the Rule Returnable Conference.
If the homeowner has a real estate tax foreclosure case, the goal of outreach is to encourage the homeowner to call the Save Your Home Philly Hotline and attend the scheduled Rule Returnable Conference in Room 676 of City Hall.
Direct mail outreach
Outreach happens by direct mail as well. DHCD sends a letter to every homeowner explaining the steps the homeowner needs to take. Here is a sample letter.
The Save Your Home Philly Hotline
Philadelphia Legal Assistance operates the Save Your Home Philly Hotline under a contract with DHCD. Philadelphia Legal Assistance also handles the data and reporting aspects of outreach.
At the beginning of every month, Jonathan Pyle at Philadelphia Legal Assistance sends out outreach assignments to the outreach teams at each of the community non-profit organizations.
In conducting door-to-door outreach, the outreach workers follow the procedures outlined in the Outreach Procedures Handbook.
History of door-to-door outreach program
The Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program started in 2008, during the foreclosure crisis. At the beginning, homeowners had to “opt-in” to the Program in order to participate. In order to make sure homeowners in foreclosure knew they could opt in, DHCD sent outreach teams from NACs to knock on the doors of people who were facing sheriff sales. DHCD also placed advertising on SEPTA buses and other places to get the word out about the Save Your Home Philly Hotline.
Within a few months, the rules changed so that all homeowners who live in their homes are automatically placed in the Diversion Program. DHCD continued to send the NAC outreach teams out to knock on the doors of homeowners in their NAC areas to make sure that homeowners know that they should call the Hotline.
In 2013, as the number of mortgage foreclosures being filed each year started to decline, the City’s Department of Revenue began increasing its efforts to collect delinquent real estate taxes. As a result, the number of real estate tax foreclosure lawsuits being filed each year increased dramatically. The Department of Revenue created the Owner Occupied Payment Agreement, which provided a way for low-income homeowners with back taxes to stay in their homes and slowly pay off their real estate tax balance. Some NACs began doing door-to-door real estate tax foreclosure outreach in 2016, and in 2018, all NACs were doing real estate tax outreach.