Indepth analysis of persistent problems in the field of community development. Woodstock's research reports contribute to the body of knowledge used by policymakers and community development practitioners.
This report examines the results of foreclosure auctions in the Chicago region held between 2005 and first half 2008 for regional municipalities, Chicago community areas and Chicago wards. The analysis provides the total number of properties going to auction, changes in the share of properties going to auction that become lender-owned, the auction values of these properties, and the property types of lender-owned properties in the City of Chicago.
This report examines financial products that take advantage of the economic vulnerability of older persons and highlights key features of some alternatives. It is based on extensive conversations with leading members of the policy and advocacy community, financialservices industry, and bank regulatory agencies. The report concludes with recommendations for both bank regulatory andfinancial institution policy to advance financial products that protect the economic security of older persons.
This report analyzes 2007 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data and finds that, in low- and moderate-income communities, depositories with CRA obligations originate a far smaller share of higher-cost loans than lenders not subject to CRA. It also finds that lenders covered by CRA are much less likely to make higher-cost loans in communities of color than lenders not covered by CRA.
This report demonstrates that measuring how well a bank provides basic banking services to low-wealth consumers could be done using existing data. Using proprietary data collected from two bank branches located in low-wealth communities, it shows that the type of transaction level data, previously thought to be unavailable to regulators and costly to collect for financial institutions, is routinely collected by at least one large bank for marketing purposes.
An analysis of 2007 foreclosure filings shows that 35 percent, or over 4,800 foreclosure filings, were on 2- to 6-units multifamily properties. Communities with the highest concentrations of foreclosures on 2- to 6-unit properties include West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, Austin, Humboldt Park on the West Side and New City, Englewood, and West Englewood on the South Side.
Foreclosures spiked in the last quarter of 2007 nearly every community in the Chicago region, based on forecosure filings analyzed by Woodstock Institute. This report also found that foreclosure filings have increased in suburban areas that have not traditionally been associated with high foreclosure levels.
This report summarizes key
foreclosure trends in the Chicago region for 2008
and updates Woodstock Institute reports and fact sheets
released previously that illustrated key aspects of the foreclosure
crisis such as the spread of the crisis to
suburban communities, the potential impact of the foreclosures
on Chicago’s
affordable rental housing market, and the growing number of foreclosures that
were becoming bank-owned properties and likely
sitting vacant. The report includes detailed appendices with data
for City of Chicago community areas
and municipalities in the Chicago Six County Area.
This report provides a method for estimating the loan
terms and conditions, default conditions, automobile characteristics, and
borrower demographics of title loans in Illinois
based on Cook County
court cases filed against borrowers in default during 2005. It identifies key
information on the title loan industry necessary to inform the public debate on
how to best apply nationally recognized small loan consumer protections to the Illinois
title loan industry.
California Reinvestment Coalition, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Empire Justice Center, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, and Woodstock Institute
This report analyzes home refinance lending in the Chicago area and documents the extreme segmentation of mortgage markets by race and neighborhood. In the last few years, mortgage lending abuses - often called predatory lending - have become an increasingly critical issue for those working to promote community reinvestment and development.