RISMEDIA, Oct. 29, 2007-New Vista Asset Management has tapped ETCREO Management for a business deal that brings together three of the nation¹s minority housing leaders. Under the partnership, ETCREO Management will handle foreclosure disposition services and will help New Vista market REO properties as affordable minority housing for first-time home buyers through a nationwide network of minority real estate and mortgage professionals.
The partnership pairs nationally recognized housing experts Gary Acosta, founder of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals NAHREP and Chairman of New Vista; Jim Park, CEO of New Vista and the Asian Real Estate Association of America; and Frances Martinez Myers, past Chairman of NAHREP and Senior Vice President of ETCREO Management, to create a potent combination of market intelligence and leadership behind the effort. The timing for the deal comes at a time when minorities are shouldering the brunt of the losses in the subprime mortgage market meltdown with significant numbers of the higher-cost loans to Blacks and Hispanics winding up in foreclosure.
New Vista Asset Management approaches the foreclosure market with an integrated minority homeownership strategy that uses inventory to create affordable and sustainable minority housing for traditionally underserved families. ETCREO Management is a division of Employee Transfer Corporation, which is owned by Philadelphia-based Fox & Roach/Trident, LP, the holding company of six home services, financial and relocation related companies. ETCREO Management has over 20 years of REO management experience and an impressive client list.
They are responsible for the asset management and disposition of bank-owned properties for their clients throughout the United States.
“This partnership with ETCREO Management provides New Vista with the efficiency and scale of a well established firm and the proven track record of delivering high quality services to a number of financial institutions,” said Acosta. “Their combination of market intelligence and real estate expertise and track record for moving properties off the market is the best in the business.”
New Vista¹s overall strategy is to leverage its broad connections within the minority real estate practitioner community, nonprofit housing and counseling network and mortgage industry to create a source of housing that will be accessible to first-time home buyers in the underserved community.
Acosta and Park are working with leading lenders to create loan programs suitable for first-time minority home buyers that will be an important component of their strategy to increase minority homeownership.
“We’re excited about this innovative approach to handling foreclosed properties,” said Frances Martinez Myers, senior vice president of Employee Transfer Corporation and former chairman of NAHREP. “This offers a win-win for everyone in the equation for minority home buyers that want to get into the market and lenders that need to minimize losses and, at the same time, meet their CRA obligations.”
Acosta and Park estimate that as much as 50% of foreclosures are impacting minority families. Community advocates are concerned about the long-term impact of foreclosures on minority neighborhoods and that investors not underserved families will buy up vacant homes.
For more information, visit www.newvistareo.com.
