CA COVID-19 Owner Vulnerability

In order to assist public agencies and community organizations in implementing homeowner protection policies and COVID-19 mortgage relief programs, the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge developed the Owner Vulnerability Index (OVI) for California. The OVI is a useful analytical and policy tool for identifying and prioritizing neighborhoods, defined as ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, at higher risk of foreclosure to preserve homeownership and promote neighborhood stabilization.

The OVI utilizes four dimensions to identify vulnerability, which are Neighborhoods:

1) With a disproportionately large number of homeowners potentially on the edge of financial vulnerability due to high housing cost burden;

2) With a disproportionately large number of households with little income after deducting housing costs;

3) With many mortgages with relatively high interest rates; and

4) With high foreclosure rates during the previous foreclosure crisis (Great Recession).

For more details about the OVI and supplemental analyses, see the report here: The COVID-19 Pandemic Housing Crisis: Identifying Owner-Vulnerable Neighborhoods in California