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The Other Foreclosure Crisis: Property Tax Lien Sales

July 2, 2012

Much attention has been focused rightly on the home mortgage foreclosure crisis. The devastation it has caused individual homeowners, the housing market, and the broader national and international economies is unlike anything experienced since the Great Depression. It is not surprising that some of the same economic conditions that have fueled the mortgage foreclosure crisis…

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Cracking the Code: Understanding and Overcoming Language Barriers in Consumer Finance

September 24, 2024

This report covers the ways that financial institutions across the financial services industry serve, or fail to serve, people with limited English proficiency.

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"What the Heck, Dude!": How States Can Fight Rental Housing Junk Fees

November 13, 2025

This companion report to Too Damn High focuses on steps that state and local governments and advocates can take to address junk fees.

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Keeping it in the Family: Legal Strategies to Address the Challenge of Heirs Property and Prevent Home Loss

January 29, 2024

This report highlights and evaluates the efficacy of various laws and policies aimed at helping owners of heirs property, a significant driver of land loss in communities of color.

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Property Tax Foreclosures on Heirs Property: The Devastating Consequences and Recommendations for Prevention

August 22, 2023

While millions of homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments and were at risk of losing their homes to mortgage foreclosures during the COVID-19 pandemic, many others were facing another foreclosure crisis- the loss of their homes due to property tax lien foreclosures. This strict and often rapid tax lien foreclosure process has created a lesser…

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Too Damn High: How Junk Fees Add to Skyrocketing Rents

March 13, 2023

Junk fees jeopardize access to future housing and financial stability by contributing to rental debt that leads to negative marks on credit reports.

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Unmet Promise: Reverse Mortgage Servicing Challenges and How to Preserve Housing Stability for Older Adults

February 6, 2023

BY: SARAH BOLLING MANCINI WITH: COLIN WEIDIG, CAMILLE DESIERTO, MARYANN FLANAGAN, RACHEL SCOTT There are roughly 480,000 reverse mortgages currently outstanding in the United States. This number is expected to grow as baby boomers age. The program was designed to allow older homeowners to borrow against their home equity without the risk of displacement, but…

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Report: How GSE Note Sales Undermine Homeownership

January 30, 2023

A Call for Reform By: Andrea Bopp Stark, Alys Cohen, Steve Sharpe, Geoff Walsh Congress has charged the housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored enterprises or GSEs) with the goals of supporting and expanding homeownership. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie and Freddie have undercut—and continue…

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At a Crossroads: Lessons from the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)

January 22, 2013

In 2013, our nation stands at a crossroads. We are still in the midst of the worst foreclosure crisis we have ever experienced. The successes, failures, and missed opportunities of HAMP provide a roadmap for a way out of the current crisis as well as a way to prevent its repetition. With up to 10…

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Opportunity Denied: How HUD's Note Sale Program Deprives Homeowners of the Basic Benefits of Their Government-Insured Loans

May 2, 2016

Vigorous enforcement of HUD’s loss mitigation rules would preserve homeownership and stabilize communities better than essentially unrestricted sales of the loans, often to financial speculators. To date, however, HUD has not held its major servicers accountable for their non-compliance with HUD’s own servicing rules. The note sale program should continue only if it can be…

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Toxic Transactions: How Land Installment Contracts Once Again Threaten Communities of Color

July 14, 2016

This NCLC report documents a new wave of predatory real estate lending, previously peddled to African-Americans during the 1930s to 1960s, as Wall Street investment companies move to profit off foreclosed homes. The report urges the CFPB to issue rules to protect vulnerable consumers across the nation.

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The Other Foreclosure Crisis: Property Tax Lien Sales

July 1, 2012

Local governments are facing financial pressures that necessitate a steady stream of tax revenue. Yet, many homeowners have been negatively affected by the difficult economic times. This report looks at ways in which local governments can assist homeowners who justifiably have payment problems, without also increasing the cost of collection or limiting tax revenues. Most…

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