Bringing Knowledge to Life! / Partner Report /
Ionia County
50 E. Sprague Road
Ionia, Michigan 48846
Phone: (888) 678-3464 / E-mail:
Web:
Fax: (616) 522-1449
February 2010
Foreclosure counseling program an early success
As Michigan remains mired in a persistent economic recession, Ionia County’s unemployment rate stands at 14.5percent. As a result, the national foreclosure crisis is hitting close to home.
County sheriff deeds have more than tripled since 2002, with residential foreclosures increasing from 102 in 2002 to 362in 2009. Current forecasts project a new wave of foreclosures over the next three yearsas hybrid adjustable rate mortgages are reset.
The effects of foreclosure threaten the dream of home ownership, ruin credit and push families into crisis very quickly, reducing their quality of life and putting them at risk of homelessness. Children forced to move due to foreclosure run the risk of being uprooted from schools and isolated from friends.
Foreclosure also has dire social and economic side effects on communities, including increased crime, abandoned housing, declines in neighborhood property values and an increase in the cost of city services.
Researchers estimate that a single foreclosed property can cost taxpayers more than $30,000 in police, fire and code enforcement services. By contrast, the cost of foreclosure counseling is as low as $550 per customer.
A new Michigan law went intoeffect in July 2009 mandating that lenders work with homeowners to avoid foreclosure. Lenders must now provide homeowners with contact information for a designated agent who has the authority to negotiate the terms of the mortgage, associated fees/penalties and/or repayment plans. This law was necessary because in too many cases, homeowners and housing counselors were previously unable to locate and/or connect with a person with negotiating authority.
One proactive response is education and counseling. Since last June, Brenda Long, Ionia County MSU Extension educator, has been counseling local homeowners facing foreclosure. In late September, Jim Buxton joined the program as an AmeriCorps member.
More than 50 Ionia County homeowner households have received counseling since June 2009. Outcomes are shown in the table below.
No. / Outcome3 / Brought mortgage current
1 / Mortgage refinanced
15 / Mortgage modified
5 / Mortgage foreclosed
1 / Bankruptcy
22 / Currently receiving foreclosure/budgeting counseling
4 / Withdrew from counseling
Continued
Foreclosure counseling--continued
One couple was extremely happy when their mortgage company offered a loan modification to reduce their interest rate to 2 percent for five years, reducing their monthly payment by $454 per month. Being unemployed for almost a year, the husband retrained himself for a new profession and began receiving income again in December. In response to this positive outcome, his wife said, “I would do a cartwheel if I could!”
-Brenda Long, Extension Educator
MSU Extension finds recreation area contributes to local economy
Traditional economic development methods have focused on solving problems and filling gaps as the strategy of choice. Stiff economic competition has encouraged many communities to pursue new strategies to gain local comparative advantage. This new strategy has been referred to as the “third wave of economic development” that focuses on the development of regional assets.
Ionia County MSU Extension, in partnership with the Ionia County Economic Alliance (ICEA), has taken an asset-based approach to economic development. In using this approach, these institutions identified the Ionia State Recreation Area (ISRA) as a local natural asset to learn more about and use to grow the local economy.
Diane Smith, Ionia County MSU Extension community and economic development educator, led the research of the ISRA. To identify the needs and interests of ISRA users, interviews were conducted at the recreational area. In addition to conducting interviews, Smith studied the ISRA as an institution and conducted research to determine its economic impact on the area.
Smith found that the total economic impact of overnight camping at the ISRA from Feb. 2008-Sept. 2009 was about $2 million. In addition, day use was estimated to have an economic impact of $6.8 million in 2009. The total income generated by day users and overnight users was more than $16 million from Jan. 2008 through Sept. 2009.
The ISRA also supported 425 jobs over this 21-month period.
“Now that we have identified the interests and needs of the users of the ISRA, we will be able to help our local businesses better market and align their business inventory and services to increase their economic gain from the ISRA” said Diane Smith, Community and Economic Development Educator for Ionia County.
In March 2010, Smith will convene a forum for both public and private partners in Ionia County to plan for the formation of an Ionia County Tourism Council to grow upon our local tourism assets such as the ISRA.
-Diane Smith, Extension Educator
Executive Director, Ionia County Economic Alliance
New Master Gardener coordinator joins MSU Extension office
Sandi Clark has joined Ionia County MSU Extension as the county’s Master Gardener Volunteer Program (MGVP) coordinator.
Clark, who previously held the similar volunteer post with the Ionia County MSUE office, has “retired from her day job” and has been selected to provide oversight and support to Master Gardener volunteers. A certified MSUE Master Gardener herself, Clark will carry her passion for home horticulture to this rewarding, and sometimes challenging, work.
“We are absolutely delighted to have someone of Sandi’s caliber working with our organization,” said county Extension director Eric Hufnagel. “She has the experience, the technical knowledge, and the commitment you want to have from someone involved in this capacity in a Master Gardener program.”
Clark is developing a calendar of public workshops on topics ranging from herb gardeningand composting tofruit tree pruning. She’s also scheduled a complete Master Gardener training series for the fall.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thomas G. Coon, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing,MI48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.