Enterprise Community Partners Receives Grant from E*TRADE to Support Affordable Housing, Foreclosure Response Efforts Nationwide

COLUMBIA, Md., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise), a national leader in affordable housing finance and community development, announced today it received a one-year $300,000 grant from E*TRADE Savings Bank to support its local foreclosure response efforts, provide affordable housing and rebuild communities in Los Angeles/southern California, Maryland, New York, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The funding will also support Enterprise's national foreclosure response initiatives as well as its Online Foreclosure Training Series. In addition, E*TRADE will be a sponsor of Enterprise's fall 2010 fund-raising events, which include the Gotham City Gala in New York City, the Soiree by the Bay in San Francisco and the Southland Social in Los Angeles.

"Enterprise is proud to collaborate with E*TRADE to increase housing and other opportunities for families with low and moderate incomes," said Doris W. Koo, president and CEO, Enterprise Community Partners. "With the generous support of E*TRADE, Enterprise will be able to implement programs that will help families get back into homes they can afford. E*TRADE's financial support will be leveraged with other grant support, such as Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds from HUD."

E*TRADE's support allows Enterprise to continue developing programmatic solutions and bring national resources to address the foreclosure crisis.

"E*TRADE is committed to and proud to support Enterprise's activity to mitigate the foreclosure crisis and improve affordable housing opportunities in low-income communities," said Kelvin James, Director of Community Investment, E*TRADE Savings Bank.

The following are examples of Enterprise's foreclosure efforts in several key areas.

• In Baltimore, Enterprise was instrumental in bringing to Baltimore City the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) acquisition programs, which assist nonprofit developers with access to and transparent agreement on foreclosed property disposition from national servicers. Enterprise also is providing counsel to Baltimore City nonprofit developers and a local intermediary on the implementation of more than $30 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds.

• In Los Angeles, Enterprise with the Los Angeles Housing Department created Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles, Inc. (RNLA). This community-based development entity uses and leverages private capital as well as NSP funds to acquire bank real estate-owned (REO), foreclosed properties in the hardest hit neighborhoods of the city. Using the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria as a guide, RNLA developed green rehab specifications and, once renovated, RNLA will resell the environmentally sustainable homes as affordable housing.

• In New York, Enterprise, working with its local and national partners, is playing a lead role in crafting an agenda for addressing the foreclosure crisis in the region. Enterprise also provided technical assistance to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) on its NSP2 funding application, for which HPD received more than $20 million. In addition, Enterprise is supporting strategies to protect New York's multifamily rental buildings from foreclosure, which are a vital source of affordable housing for many New Yorkers.

• In northern California, Enterprise is working with nine jurisdictions in the East Bay and Sacramento areas to provide support for their NSP-funded activities. In key jurisdictions, Enterprise is serving as an advisor to development partners and providing support and resources to develop and administer effective foreclosure response efforts. This work is financed through NSP and local funding and includes the purchase, rehab and sale of REO properties to eligible homeowners to stabilize neighborhoods.

• In Washington D.C., Enterprise helped establish a partnership between the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and NCST through which the organizations will assist the participating jurisdictions in local response to the foreclosure crisis. Enterprise also facilitated a connection between NCST and City First Homes. Together, they will support the NCST First Look program, which gives buyers the opportunity to inspect and acquire foreclosed and vacant properties before they are listed for sale through traditional means. In addition, Enterprise staff provided technical assistance to the District Department of Housing and Community Development in crafting its NSP2 application, which was selected to receive federal funds.

About Enterprise

Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For more than 25 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested more than $10 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve more than 250,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities. Enterprise is currently investing in communities at a rate of $1 billion a year. Visit www.enterprisecommunity.org and www.enterprisecommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity.

SOURCE Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.