Legal Project Staff, including all staff from the Home Owners Protection Program, or HOPP, participated in a lobby day at the Legislative offices this week. HOPP is a statewide network of 89 non-profit housing counseling and legal services organizations that help struggling home owners in every county of New York. Last contract year, between July 2022 and July 2023 the HOPP program served 20,564 New Yorkers facing foreclosure. HOPP saves New York State over $1.2 billion a year in property value preservation, tax savings, and additional cost savings to localities. Every $1 million invested in HOPP yields a return of over $5 million in tax and property cost savings. Last year, HOPP received $40 million to fund the statewide program. The current Executive Budget includes no funding for HOPP. Without action to restore the funding to the final budget there will be no funding for this statewide. We join the rest of #HOPP in asking to restore the $40 million to the final budget.

If you are passionate about housing justice, reach out to Legal Director, Carla Brogoch about the positions we are currently hiring for HOPP – cbrogoch@legalproject.org or visit our Employment page for open positions.