The Innovation Department serves as the home for NHS’ internal evaluation efforts. Our evaluation efforts aim to both improve our own program operations and to inform public policy with real time, local data and examples of on-the ground neighborhood program efforts.

Browse through our white papers and evaluation reports below to learn more about NHS’ impact throughout our communities. 

NHS Foreclosure Prevention Activities and Results in FY 2010
Since the inception of HOPI in 2003, NHS and its partners have counseled or educated over 14,000 at-risk homeowners. In the past year, NHS helped 1,010 avoid foreclosure in Chicago and surrounding communities — a 109% increase from the previous year.  This report details the impact of loan modifications, changing demographics, and other trends.

Foreclosure Counseling, Education, and Loan Modification Outreach: Innovation and Advancements in Assisting Borrowers Facing Default
NHS partnered with Policy Lab to explore and document the evolution of counseling service delivery to the diversity of borrowers facing foreclosure. This research allowed NHS to better understand the increasing and varied needs of troubled homeowners. The resulting white paper addresses the effectiveness of saturation marketing campaigns, characteristics of typical counseling intake clients, and analyzes NHS’ loan modification event model. The research also supports the conclusion that borrowers counseled by NHS are less likely to see their loan status worsen that those who do not seek one-on-one counseling.

Lessons from the Front Lines: Counselor Perspectives on Default Interventions
NHS, in its role as the founder of the Home Ownership Preservation Initiative, (HOPI) sponsored a series of surveys of mortgage default counselors in May and October 2007. The results suggested substantially increased demands on the mortgage counseling field. One in three counselors saw their client volumes more than double in 2007 alone. This research allowed NHS and other housing counseling agencies to anticipate and prepare for the surge in counseling demand experienced since 2007.

Assessing the Damage: The Effects of Rising Foreclosure Rates on Consumer Investment in Owner-Occupied Housing 
In order to respond to the foreclosure crisis appropriately, policymakers, community organizations and consumer advocates need to understand how consumer attitudes are being shaped by events in the marketplace. Based on a survey of 560 owners and renters in a large Midwestern city in March 2008, this paper examines current perceptions of homeownership among low- and middle income working households. The research models consumer’s subjective probability assessments of one of the benefits of buying a home (accumulation of equity) and one of the risks (foreclosure) based on demographic characteristics (age, income, race, education), neighborhood conditions (foreclosure rate, home values) and credit history (missing rent or mortgage payments, filed bankruptcy) using a regression model.