December 24, 2001

NACA gift could revolutionize New Orleans housing

By Amanda Furness

It might just be the kick in the butt that city officials and local lenders need.

Since the early nineties the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America - NACA for short - has been setting the mortgage world on it's ear. The non-profit organization recently opened office number twenty-eight in New Orleans, and administrators are hopeful that the nationwide program and it's grass-roots tactics will bring about an upheaval in the New Orleans homebuying market, especially for the working poor.

NACA's roots took hold back in Boston, where community activist Bruce Marks helped union members to push for the inclusion of housing advocacy in their benefit packages. The group's victory led to the formation of NACA, a mortgage lending company that helps low-income people to secure loans to buy a home. Ironically enough, the agency is able to provide the free services it offers to clients - credit counseling, budget management, homebuyer training, fixed interest at below market rates, landlord counseling and rehab assistance - thanks to the billions of dollars it has finagled from banking institutions that typically overlook or reject the very same people NACA services. Marks, using the newly-founded NACA as a front, took on financial giant Fleet and it's CEO Terry Murray in what became close to a five year battle that got real personal at times. The Massachussets-based activist said he and NACA activists made Murray's life a living hell during that time period, targeting friends, business associates and neighbors, making appearances in Murray's social circles. Embarrassing for the bank executive, sure, both socially and professionally, but the action proved more than fruitful for NACA, which negotiated with Fleet to call off the protests in exchange for millions in loans for low- income people. That windfall started the fledgling organization on it,s course, propelling them on to protest against several other banking institutions and to negotiate for funding with others without even having to protest at all.

"You know, it's funny. The one thing NACA friends and NACA enemies say about us is that both the good and the bad thing about NACA is they do what they say," Marks said. "It's 'confrontational advocacy'...we do get personal. They got personal with us...how much more personal can you get than someone not being able to buy food or to keep the lights on because they're paying a high mortgage and don't want to lose their homes? We're talking about the largest institutions in America and they hide behind the corporate veil, making millions of peoples lives miserable. They make bad deals and huge profits off of them, then believe they can go home and live their lives. NACA's goal is to show them you can't do that."

The CEO said many of the low-income people who come to NACA have been exploited by secondary lenders with balloon payments that leave homebuyers fifteen years into home ownership still owing the exact amount of the house. Interest payments like that are what ends up leaving people facing foreclosure, in need and searching for a way out, which is what NACA provides. Refinancing is a big part of what the agency does, though change doesn't come overnight. NACA New Orleans Director Dietro Lawrence is clear about that, saying she tells new members that the real goal of the program is to help people prepare for and manage the responsibilities that come with homeownership, such as savings, budget management and taking a stock in their community. "That's where the advocacy comes in. we want to give people the knowledge and power to take their future in their own hands. To help them find financial freedom. We meet with them, help them set up a budget, look at their credit report, feel like they,re a part of something, part of a community. When they do get into their homes, they set up a housing association, as a way to give them a voice in their communities. That way, they can get a police officer if needed, deal with air quality, pollution, whatever. But with that comes a lot of responsibility, and we don't want to set people up for failure, so we have to work together with our members to make sure they're prepared for that."

Preparation comes in the form of an initial workshop, the next scheduled at Gentilly Woods Public Library for Jan. 12. There new members will meet NACA staff, hear testimonial from other members and watch a video entitled "The March Goes On," which feature news clips, interviews and protest footage.Then they're scheduled for an appointment with NACA counselors, and the process begins.

Lawrence said sometimes it takes, time, a few years even, for members to get everything in order -

credit, money management skills - to buy a house or to refinance. But when it comes, its a sweet thing for members, some who have even secured loans that enable them to buy a multi-unit family and rent the unoccupied units, adding to their work income. "It's the dream," said Lawrence.

Ethel CoJoe of Powder Point, GA, sure can't say enough good things about NACA. "It helped to save our home," she said. CoJoe and her husband were on the verge of losing the home they had built, paying 11.5 percent and falling behind on bills and other credit obligations. The CoJoes hooked up with NACA, refinanced their house and ended up with a 6.5 percent rate. "Some people don't want to take the time to do the paperwork, feel like they just can't do it. But we go to talk to people, to tell them that it is a good thing, to stick with it, even though it's not gonna happen overnight. It's hard to believe at first, like it,s too good to be true, but hearing it from somebody who's been through it, it felt good to see that sign with our name on it."

The days of struggling to pay bills and bouncing checks are behind the CoJoes now. "I heard my

husband ask people in a workshop once 'How could you tell your wife you can't pay the house note?"I never thought about that, until he said it." Things are better now, Ethel having gotten a raise and teaching pre-school certification from the state of Georgia, which supplements her work income.

The landlord training program at NACA is another way members can add to their income. Some are

afforded loans to buy multi-family properties and some buy single homes and renovate them. It's that rehab program that both Marks and Lawrence are excited about for New Orleans - a city with historic homes going to waste and who neighborhoods face dilapidation - believing that getting people loans to refurbish homes in low-income areas could help to revolutionize the city's quality of life. "One of the things in terms of New Orleans," Marks said, "is that there is a beautiful but deteriorating housing stock. Our rehab program works extremely well, and if people see one NACA member buying a house and fixing it up, making an investment in the community, then it sends a message to others. 'This block is open for business,' it says, and you can't beat it."

This article is reprinted here for non-commercial, educational, fair use purposes only.