PAA’s Housing Resource Center has been providing Polish and Eastern European clients with foreclosure counseling and education on topics such as: foreclosure laws and timelines; loss-mitigation options; negotiating a loan work-out; how to make informed loan choices; and rights and options for tenants in foreclosed buildings.

PAA Program for Renters impacted by foreclosure
Polish American Association - Housing Resource Center has been serving as a unique community resource for dissemination of unbiased information and a counseling agency providing help related to: landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities, conflict resolution, lock-outs, evictions, retaliation, discrimination, gaining access to affordable housing for special needs populations like senior citizens, and persons with disabilities and security deposit issues. New immigrants with their lack of English and knowledge of housing law are often victims of unscrupulous landlords who take advantage of hard working immigrants and their families. We observed the increase of unlawful lock outs, number of illegal eviction as well as security deposit problems and breaking the Chicago Heat Ordinance, Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance or Fair Housing Act.

Foreclosures can affect anyone. If our client is a renter whose building is in foreclosure, PAA HRC helps them to understand the laws that protect him/her during the foreclosure process.

The PAA Program for Renters wants to make sure that our clients will be protected by the following laws:

• if the tenant has been summoned to court must be given at least 90 days notice to vacate the property
• if eviction is due to a building foreclosure, the tenant's eviction record will be scaled if they are current in their rent or have made good faith attempts to pay
• tenants must continue to pay rent to be eligible to receive these protections
• the law prohibits any threat or attempt to lock tenants or their possessions out of their traits

City ordinance requires landlords to notify tenants within 7 days of a foreclosure
filling on their property foreclosure:
The PAA Program for Renters wants to educate and make sure that clients will:

• maintain good records, including copies of their lease, proof of security deposit and proof of rent payments/receipts
• pay the rent on time with a money order or check and document attempts to make payments
• be alert for warning signs that the building may be in foreclosure like for example: utility shut-offs, landlord not collecting rent
• keep identification and proof of tenancy handy in the event of an eviction order
• open all mail even if it says "occupant" or "unknown occupant"
• seek legal assistance or advice to understand your rights
• be aware of unscrupulous people claiming to be the new landlord and seek legal help or contact law enforcement authorities if you suspect a scam

PAA Program for Renters impacted by foreclosure

Polish American Association plans to utilize the following types of evaluation information during the grant period:

• Number of non-English speaking clients receiving one-on -one counseling (each session lasting 8-10 hours) on foreclosure prevention and remedies
• Number of non-English speaking clients receiving one-on -one counseling for renters impacted by foreclosure
• Number of CDC or other related materials translated into Polish
• Number of distributed materials translated into Polish
• Number of persons attending workshops or seminars.
• Number of persons referred to other housing organizations like: (Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, Metropolitan Tenant Organization, Spanish Coalition for Housing, Center for Conflict Resolution)

We plan to collect information on these criteria through utilizing the following data sources/methods:

• Tabulating the number of calls/contacts on a spreadsheet.
• Using questionnaires to solicit client feedback before and after workshops, and events
• Maintaining sign-in lists for workshops, and events.
• Maintaining files for counseling clients.
• Using questionnaires to survey guest speakers/teachers on questions generated by their presentations/classes.

These evaluative measures and the statistics we gather will be an invaluable tool in monitoring the relevance and effectiveness of our program. Externally, we would use these data to alert the industry of the needs of our community and to invite them to cooperate in our efforts.

PAA has developed software to store clients, programs and provided services data. We also maintain written records of all activities such as created materials, calendar of scheduled meetings, workshops, radio and TV announcements and records of referrals.