Pandemic Puts Homeownership in African American Communities at Risk

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In the post-COVID-19 era, African American homeownership in Los Angeles County is predicted to reach an even more concerning level. During the 2007 recession, foreclosure rates among African American homeowners were three times that of non-Hispanic Whites. According to the recent UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge’s Saving Black Homeownership report, the significant homeownership gap between these groups had only started to close between 2010 and 2019, albeit at an extremely slow pace. However, whatever progress made has now been disrupted by COVID-19.

Compared with non-Hispanic Whites, African American households experienced more job losses during this pandemic. As a result, this vulnerable demographic was about twice as likely to have hardship with mortgage payment. Between April and October 2020, about 3,665 new preforeclosure notices were served. Unfortunately, this rate is more than one-and-a-half times greater in African American neighborhoods.

To preempt the crisis, the UCLA study recommends a series of actions, including:

  1. Prompting elected officials to secure a plan before the inevitable post-COVID-19 evictions and foreclosures happen. This should include a Mortgage Relief Fund or assistance program to cover all or partial missed mortgage payments for low- and moderate-income homeowners, with consideration to the most vulnerable homeowners and neighborhoods.
  2. Continuing to monitor developments in real-time and identifying homeowners who fall behind on their payment.
  3. Addressing funding and access to resource inequalities, such as supporting organizations that can reach struggling homeowners, including those who don’t know about or have trouble accessing resources that can reduce foreclosure risk.
  4. Requiring lenders to provide disclosure to mortgage holders about housing counseling and other available resources.
  5. Building on current policies for an inclusive solution for all homeowners in Los Angeles County. Improving existing policies allow local governments to prioritize and give support to the most vulnerable families and neighborhoods.

It is crucial to take action on the current challenges to African American homeowners. Addressing the needs of at-risk homeowners’ calls for policy reforms with the goal of keeping families in the home by helping those who are behind on their mortgage. Time is of the essence, as thousands of vulnerable residents are certain to lose their homes in the near future.

Read the full UCLA report

Looking Back on 2020

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As we reflect back on a challenging 2020, we’d like to recount a sampling of the Century team’s proudest achievements. These accomplishments reflect the best of Century’s values, advancing our mission of making homes the cornerstone of a thriving and just society.

  • Century celebrates 25 years of service with two $25,000 donations to charter schools that we established and helped operate. Both schools are located in Inglewood and serve low income, minority communities. Find out more at https://century.org/25th/
  • Century closed loans totaling approximately $209M, which will create and preserve 4,544 affordable homes for families, seniors, and veterans at a average affordability of 46.5% of AMI and will help create more than 4,400 construction jobs. We continue to be the highest volume CDFI lender to affordable and workforce housing in the State.
  • Our remarkable Century Villages at Cabrillo staff responded rapidly to the pandemic to provide supportive services, community engagement activities, and property management services, addressing the acute needs of their vulnerable population. This included the coordination and deployment of COVID resources for residents including masks, COVID testing, food vouchers, Internet access, and more, resulting in one of the lowest infection rates compared to similar shared living areas.
  • Century was assigned a ‘AA’ Rating with a stable outlook by Fitch Ratings, one of the major nationally recognized financial rating organization. This rating joins our current S&P Global’s AA- rating and makes Century the first CDFI to be rated by both Fitch and S&P.
  • Century issued $85 million in ESG municipal CUSIP bonds to advance our mission throughout the state of California, becoming the first CDFI to come to market with a municipal bond CUSIP. The third-party opinion by Sustainalytics attests to both the environmental and social benefits that will be created by the homes made possible by these bonds.
  • Our Long Beach development, The Beacon, received numerous prestigious awards, including SCANPH Development of the Year, AIA-LA Residential Architecture Award, PCBC Gold Nugget Grand Award, and Multi-Housing News Excellence Award.
  • In July, a required VA public hearing took place, which cleared the path for development activities at the West LA VA campus. Century and partners Thomas Safran & Associates (TSA) and U.S.VETS continued advocacy for the West LA Campus Improvements Act, which was introduced to Congress by Senator Feinstein in the fall. TSA broke ground on Building 207 and the Dry Utility Trunkline. Visit wlavc.org to learn more.
  • Century and partners, HACLA, Richman Group, and National CORE submitted the One San Pedro Transformation Plan to This plan was the result of extensive hands-on community outreach, planning and design work, and due diligence and assessment activities. It will pave the way for future development activities, including up to 1,400 homes, parks and open space, and commercial and supportive service space. Find out more at www.onesanpedro.org

 

Developers Respond to Prolonged Pandemic

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Century provided financing to Jamboree Housing for the acquisition of a motel in Buena Park that will be converted into permanent supportive housing using 9% LIHTC. The motel was long past its useful life, and Jamboree will complete needed upgrades to the units to help transition individuals from homelessness to housing. Upon completion, Jamboree will add 57 units of critically needed permanent housing to help address the growing problem of homelessness in Orange County. Each resident will have access to wrap around social services. Jamboree is based in Irvine and is one of the most active nonprofit affordable housing builders in California.

Additional Recent Impacts

  • Developer Uzi Levy received high-LTV construction financing to build 32 workforce homes in Chatsworth. Uzi acquired this single-family home site in 2014 and his ability to break ground now is another testament to the resiliency of developers navigating the global pandemic while adding density to urban centers suffering from critical shortages.
  • In Berkeley, developer Bridge Housing is using Century acquisition financing to build 61 new affordable apartments and receive a sizable commitment from the city made possible by recent tax measure spending. The property (shown at right) will provide one-bedroom units to low-income seniors and special-needs individuals earning 20%, 30%, and 40% of AMI while maintaining an overall affordability of 31% of AMI.
  • Several years ago, Century provided a construction loan to develop 27 workforce homes in Panorama City, a district of the San Fernando Valley. Subsequent design changes, including installation of a parapet wall and open space ground level interlocks mandated by the city, prevented the developer from converting the loan until the City of Los Angeles purchase the property in April. The developer’s dedication and Century’s flexibility will pave the way for more naturally occurring affordable projects in a financially vulnerable area.

 

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