Background

These materials will provide you with background information about the issues we are addressing. They include articles, legal documents, papers, etc. Please let us know if you find something useful here, or if you would like other material or assistance in finding it. Make your request on the Contact Us page.

Maps

• Top 35 Communities with Most Distressed Housing per 1,000 Units - July 31, 2009
• Distressed Properties per 1,000 Housing Units by Community - July 31, 2009
• Communities Experiencing More than 30% Increase in Distressed Units - 10/2008 to 7/2009

Background Documents

• Memorandum Addressing the Constitutionality of Federal Legislation Requiring Non-Voluntary Amendments to Existing Mortgage Contracts - A legal memo on the federal government's ability to regulate existing mortgages. From the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau 11/12/2008
• Massachusetts Attorney General Coakley documents failure of voluntary requests of lenders in testimony to U.S. House Financial Services Committee
• National Low Income Housing Coalition: Foreclosure in Massachusetts: Properties, Units, and Tenure
• CHAPA Briefing Paper: Addressing the Foreclosure Crisis: State and Federal Initiatives in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts v. Fremont Investment & Loan - Preliminary Injunction Extracts - Full
• United for a Fair Economy study: State of the Dream 2008
• ACORN reports: Home Insecurity: Foreclosures in Suffolk County Neighborhoods

Charts and Tables

• Median Prices by month, Massachusetts single-family homes (PDF)
  posted 05/10/2009
• Foreclosures in Massachusetts by month (PDF)
  posted 05/10/2009
• Homeless Family Caseload 2005-2009 (PDF)
  posted 05/10/2009
• National House Price Details (PDF)
  posted 01/19/2009
• National Foreclosure Predictions (PDF)
  posted 01/19/2009
• Monthly Mortgage Interest Rates (JPG)
• Statewide map & top 20 hardest hit communities (July 2007) (PDF)
• Homeless Family Caseload for FY2004-FY2008 (JPG)
• Massachusetts Home Sales Volume March 2007-March 2008 (PDF)