NHP by the numbers
1,971: Families who’ve received homebuyer education and/or credit counseling
1,280: Households counseled for mortgage delinquency
$40 million: Amount of first-time home loans obtained through NHP
$1.2 million: Amount of down payment/closing cost assistance provided by NHP and local lenders
257: Home repair projects completed
206: Homes landscaped since 2003 through the Cultivating Neighborhoods program, which is on hold due in part to funding
SPRINGFIELD — It’s hard to say which statistic most defines Neighborhood Housing Partnership’s first 10 years — the $1.2 million it’s given first-time homebuyers in down-payment assistance or the fact that, if contacted early enough, NHP can save 40 percent of homeowners from foreclosure.
The local nonprofit began a decade ago with the proactive goal of creating homeowners.
Then, for some, the American Dream morphed into a nightmare, and NHP’s mission changed to foreclosure intervention, working with lenders to modify loans for those in trouble.
“It’s preservation now,” said Tina Koumoutsos, the organization’s executive director.
One thing, however, hasn’t changed — in the best of times and the worst of times, NHP has been on the side of homeowners.
The organization will celebrate its 10th anniversary today with a lawn party from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at its office, 527 E. Home Road.
The housing collapse only reinforced the importance of a consumer advocate like NHP, Koumoutsos said.
“With subprime loans,” she said, “we learned that what you don’t know really can hurt you.”
The lawn party boasts free hot dogs, chips and pop, but the most valuable freebie might just be the free credit reports that will be available.
In order to buy a house, lenders once again have adopted higher standards for who to loan money to, Koumoutsos said.
And, looking ahead to the next 10 years, NHP wants to get back into the primary business of turning renters into owners.
It is, after all, a buyers’ market.
“It’s a tragedy for the person who lost their home, but there’s such an inventory of affordable housing,” Koumoutsos said. “Potential buyers will need to get their acts together credit-wise.”
Close to 2,000 families have taken homebuyer education classes through NHP in the last decade. The course now is available online as well.
“I wish it was required for every first-time homebuyer,” she said. “We’ve had Ph.Ds go through our homebuyer education program.”
Koumoutsos points to an Ohio State University study determining that homeowners who took such a class were half as likely to default on their loans.
Leslie McNeil, a 29-year-old single mom, bought her Quincy Road house in January after taking the NHP course, which typically is held on three Wednesday nights.
“A goal of mine was to own a home by the age of 30,” McNeil said. “It’s a big, huge financial responsibility, but I was willing to take it on.”
McNeil also received a matching grant for down-payment assistance.
“It seems impossible at times,” she said, “but there are programs out there to help.”
She heard about NHP through a friend.
“I wish more people knew about it,” McNeil said.
So does Koumoutsos.
“We’re not McDonald’s,” she lamented. “We don’t have a multimillion-dollar marketing budget.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or andrew.mcginn@coxinc.com
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