As 2008 draws to a close, over 2 million families have already lost their homes or are facing foreclosure.  A protracted homeownership crisis will harm both families and entire communities alike and threatens to weaken an already besieged national economy. Yet as policymakers agree to spend billions of dollars to shock the economy back to life, they seem less committed to searching for an effective policy response to address the foreclosure storm and resurrect a responsible housing finance system.
 
One policymaker has stood out in the search for creative policy solutions. Join us on December 17th to hear FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair share her perspective from the front lines of the economic crisis and offer her vision of how to make responsible homeownership work in the future. Chairman Bair has been making a forceful case for a systematic and streamlined approach to loan modifications that will help keep millions of Americans from being displaced by loan defaults and foreclosure.
 
The event will also feature new and groundbreaking research from the Center for Community Capital at The University of North Carolina that provides a roadmap for making responsible homeownership work, even among lower-income families. Funded by the Ford Foundation, this research evaluates the experience of an innovative program of the Self-Help organization in North Carolina and highlights the potential of linking borrowers with safe and appropriate mortgage products. Join the New America Foundation and the Center for Community Capital for an insightful discussion with implications for the future of homeownership policy. 

Featured Speaker
Sheila Bair
Chairman
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Welcome
Ray Boshara
Vice President, Domestic Policy Programs; Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation
 
Presenters
Roberto G. Quercia
Director, Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 
Michal Grinstein-Weiss
Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Janneke Ratcliff
Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Respondents
Eric Stein
President
Center for Community Self-Help

Mark Willis
Visiting Scholar
Ford Foundation
 
Ellen Seidman
Financial Services Policy Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation

Reid Cramer
Research Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation

Co-sponsored by New America Foundation and the Center for Community Capital, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

* This event will be webcast LIVE on the event page*