Foreclosure Prevention Research Articles

Sustaining homeownership: The promise of postpurchase services

The practice of providing postpurchase assistance to homeowners once they are in their homes has been generating increased interest in efforts to preserve the homeownership gains of the past few years. In this article, we document the current state of the postpurchase services industry and identify the essential components of foreclosure prevention and sustainable homeownership programs—the two major types. Taken together, these essential components provide a framework for the full range of services these programs can provide and identify what needs to be measured in order to evaluate them. This article is based on insights gathered from interviews with national experts and site visits to or extensive phone interviews with nine nonprofits that operate postpurchase homeownership programs.