Workshop Aims To Help Homeowners Keep, Maintain Their Homes

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Bushwick's council member Rafael Espinal will host a forum on Wednesday night for homeowners to go over vital information about foreclosure prevention, avoiding scams and home repairs. The event is also an official launch of the Homeowner Help Desk, a resource that Espinal secured with city money as part of his East New York Neighborhood Plan.

Housing Preservation and Development commissioner Maria Torres-Springer will be in attendance, as well as city agencies, legal groups and nonprofit organizations geared toward helping homeowners maintain their homes. City agencies will include Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, Center for NYC Neighborhoods, Mutual Housing Association of New York Management and Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, among others.

Espinal has spoken out against tenant harassment by landlords and local companies that are looking to evict homeowners and rent-stabilized tenants for a profit. He also criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio last month for not allotting enough from his 2017 budget toward helping homeowners in NYC.

"The ability to buy a home has long been an effective tool for working and middle class families to achieve economic stability and build a foundation for their successive generations," Espinal said. "Statistics have shown that the homeownership rate in New York City has reduced to well below 50%, which is the lowest it’s been in decades.

"Although housing interest rates remain at historically low levels, market prices have gone through the roof, making homeownership literally impossible for working class and middle class New Yorkers. We must think proactively about how to help first time homebuyers purchase their own piece of their community."

The homeowner's forum takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Public School 89 at 269 Warwick St. in East New York.

Lead photo by Sarah Kaufman/Patch