Boston plans to fight off foreclosure crisis

: Boston Plans To Fight Off Foreclosure Crisis Homeowners are crumbling under the pressure of Boston foreclosure homes. Boston has been facing foreclosure crisis for a couple of years and this is a critical moment for all homeowners in the state. When it looked as if things were going to go out of hand, the Mayor's office stepped in to do their best to control the situation. Patricia Canavan who is an advisor in the Boston Mayor's office is working on a plan and has made an official statement. In the wake of the rise in the number of homes in the Boston foreclosure listings, Canavan believes that the best option is to reclaim neighborhoods that have been left empty due to the ever growing foreclosure crisis. In her speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Community Development Policy Summit in Cleveland, Ohio, She has urged banks, financial institutions and lenders to make efforts for refinancing as many loans as possible so that foreclosures can be stopped. According to statistical reports taken out by the Boston Mayor’s office, the amount of sub-prime loans taken by people in Boston is quite high and 65% of those loans were taken out by people the minority neighborhoods or who belong to the modest income group. A major part of the 65% is already in foreclosure. Like other parts of the country, the wave of foreclosure has not spared homeowners in Boston as well. In fact, in the last two years, the rate of foreclosure has increased considerably. In 2006 the total number of Boston bank owned homes was just 64 while 2007 saw an alarming increase with 704 foreclosed homes and as of date (2008) the number is 774 and counting. The immediate impact of foreclosures includes homeless families, empty neighborhoods, and increase in crime rate, Boston cheap homes, and others. In order to fight the negative aspects of foreclosure on various communities, the Mayor of Boston, Tom Menino has created a tactical team for foreclosure intervention. The team has weekly meetings so that they can work out an effective neighborhood stabilization program.