Broadcast-Ready Scripts and Sound Bites
- Housing Crisis Playing out Differently in Federal Reserve Fourth District
- Francisca Richter, Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Lead-in: In its just-released annual report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland says the Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia areas it serves will need to find a unique solution to the housing and foreclosure crisis because the crisis is playing out differently here than in other parts of the country.
- Tag: The Cleveland Fed is proposing attacking the problem with a 5-pronged approach that includes providing incentives for loan modifications, converting homeowners to renters, making use of land banks, beefing up code enforcement, and helping banks and financial institutions recapitalize. Richter believes that the best way to break the housing crisis cycle is to attack it on multiple fronts.
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- Plan for Breaking Housing Crisis Cycle
- Mark S. Sniderman, Executive Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Lead-in: A plan for breaking the housing crisis cycle is emerging from the epicenter of the nation’s foreclosure meltdown. In its just-released annual report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is calling for a multi-faceted approach that aims to address the interconnected problems that have led to too many Americans losing their homes and too many neighborhoods falling into disrepair.
- Tag: Rounding out the plan, Sniderman says clearing the way for land bank legislation and robust code enforcement will also help local governments more effectively deal with vacant or abandoned properties. And finally, there’s the task of making sure our financial institutions are strong enough to lend confidently. The Cleveland Fed continues to study recapitalization strategies and believes the initiatives the Treasury has launched recently are helping to recapitalize the banking system.
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- Population Decline in Some Areas Will Impact Housing Crisis
- O. Emre Ergungor, Senior Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Lead-in: Even if the economy bounces back soon, many parts of the country will still be faced with the long-term problem of what to do with an excess of houses that are likely to remain on the market. That’s one of the findings of the annual report just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. A senior researcher there says that while some regions with increasing populations may be able to absorb the excess housing stock, regions where the population is declining may find it much more difficult to fill the vacancies.
- Tag: The Cleveland Fed is calling for a multi-faceted approach for breaking the housing crisis cycle. Some suggestions: Clear the way for land bank legislation and robust code enforcement to help local governments deal with vacant or abandoned properties. Provide incentives to banks and financial institutions to modify loans. Allow people who have fallen behind on mortgage payments to stay in their homes by converting them from owners to renters. And continue to take steps to recapitalize banks so they’re able to lend confidently.
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- Over-Lending, Not Housing Bubble to Blame for Housing Crisis
- Yuliya Demyanyk, Senior Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Lead-in: Looking back on the origins of the foreclosure crisis in Ohio and surrounding areas, perhaps the biggest surprise, according to research documented in this year’s annual report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, is that we had a bigger problem with over-lending than we did with the housing bubble. A senior research economist there says the housing bubble didn’t cause our problems; rather, it masked them.
- Tag: Demyanyk says the housing crisis is not likely to abate in our region even if the economy turns around soon because the population here is declining and there simply won’t be enough people to fill the vacated homes. The Cleveland Fed is proposing a multi-faceted approach to address the problem. It’s proposing to reward mortgage lenders and servicers for modifying loans, clearing legislation to beef up code enforcement, and allowing local governments to use land banks to manage vacated properties. Other recommendations are to keep homeowners in houses by allowing them to become renters and continuing to take actions to recapitalize banks so they’re more likely to lend.
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- No Single Idea Will be Enough to Fix Housing Crisis
- Mark S. Sniderman, Executive Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Lead-in: Don’t look for one big idea to break the housing crisis cycle. That’s what the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is saying in its just-released annual report. The bank’s executive vice president says the problem is too interconnected, and it will take a multi-faceted approach to fix it.
- Tag: Part of the problem in the future will be that in places where the population is dwindling there simply won’t be enough people to pick up the slack in the housing stock. That’s one reason why the Cleveland Fed is proposing a combination of beefing up code enforcement, using land banks, providing incentives for loan modifications, and creative methods for allowing people to remain in their homes—such as converting homeowners to renters.
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