New Jersey's foreclosure crisis has hit the southern part of the state especially hard, impacting entire communities through lower home values, higher property taxes, and a lack of homes available for first-time buyers and working-class families, and affecting the region's economy. A report released in late October by the Sen. Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-Camden suggests a combination of strategies the Legislature, nonprofits, and the private sector could use “to prevent further damage to our neighborhoods and communities” from what it calls a longstanding problem.