AHP is celebrating five years’ of providing families at risk of foreclosure with viable long-term solutions to stay in their homes. Founded in 2008 as a 501c3 nonprofit in Cincinnati, AHP pioneered the short sale leaseback as a foreclosure remedy for struggling homeowners. Faced with resistance from many banks which insisted that families vacate their homes in order to have their short sales approved, AHP changed their strategy in early 2011: now a for-profit headquartered in Chicago, AHP purchases pools of nonperforming mortgages from banks and other lenders and then offers borrowers sustainable solutions to stay in their homes, including reduced payments and discounted principal balances. If homes are vacant or families want to move, AHP offers deficiency waivers and incentive payments to cooperate with short sales in order to put the homes back into productive service.

Originally modeled to be financed with municipal tax-exempt bonds, American Homeowner Preservation’s efforts are now primarily supported by accredited investors, both high net worth individuals and institutional investors. “Doing good for families and communities and doing well by achieving attractive returns for our investors do not have to be mutually-exclusive–achieving both is possible,” said Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jorge Newbery. Since inception, AHP has assisted hundreds of families, reducing payments by an average of over 40% and cutting principal balances by an average of more than 50%. “Solutions are prompt, easy-to-understand and simply require families to choose the option they want. We avoid the endless document requests and opaque, inefficient processing of the big banks,” explained Asset Manager Michael Nelson.

Further, American Homeowner Preservation has helped return hundreds of abandoned, vacant homes to productive use. “Frequently, families are overwhelmed with the threat of foreclosure, do not understand their options and get frustrated with the never-ending maze laid out by their banks. Thus, they move out, the homes get vandalized, and the neighborhood is further blighted,” explained Newbery. “Many lenders apparently hesitate at foreclosing on vacant, vandalized homes due to municipal requirements to maintain and they sell these loans to AHP. We will try to contact the homeowners and offer them a modest cash incentive to sign a Deed in Lieu or cooperate with a short sale. We prefer paying struggling families than paying lawyers to foreclose,” Newbery added. “Returning these homes to productive use is essential to the stabilization of many communities devastated by the foreclosure crisis.”

American Homeowner Preservation’s evolution continues, but the mission of helping families stay in their homes remains the same. “Even with the recent improvements in some housing markets, there are still millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure who are struggling to stay in their homes.” said Newbery. “AHP wants to help these families.”