News

05/05/08

Thousands of Homeowners Receive Free Foreclosure Help Through NeighborWorks America and HOPE Now Alliance Outreach

A homeowner gets help at a free workshop for those facing foreclosure.

NeighborWorks America has teamed up with the HOPE NOW Alliance on a multi-state tour to help homeowners avoid foreclosure as the mortgage crisis rages on.  The tour consists of home preservation events that offer struggling homeowners face time with their mortgage servicing company and/or a housing counselor. 

The Home Preservation Tour kicked off in California on March 3, and each event has hundreds of homeowners attend.  To date through these events, NeighborWorks has provided more than 3,500 homeowners a chance to develop loan modification and financial plans with their mortgage servicers or a housing counselor.

At the core of these events is the unique opportunity for a homeowner to sit down face to face and understand their financial situation and options to avoid foreclosure.  The events are open to the public and services are available in both English and Spanish. Top lenders such as Countrywide, Chase, and WaMu have participated, along with a host of local and state organizations that offer counseling and other support (see full listing below). Many servicers such as EMC and HSBC are offering on-site loan modifications to their borrowers at these events.

Large numbers of homeowners show up seeking foreclosure relief.

“The workshops are designed to help homeowners in trouble so they can walk out feeling more confident that they have a roadmap back to sustainable homeownership,” said Kate Colarulli, project manager for the NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions. “Homeowners today are looking for trusted sources of information and the face-to-face counseling provided by NeighborWorks organizations is very powerful.”

Hundreds of homeowners walk in the door at each event, and the success stories are powerful.  For example, through these events NeighborWorks was able to help a couple whose high mortgage cost was compounded by other financial difficulties. The husband had been out of work for over 12 months and they had turned the gas in their home off in an effort to make ends meet and pay their mortgage. Their servicer was able to trim $400 off their monthly mortgage payment.  The wife left in tears of joy.

So far, the tour has hit major cities in seven states – California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois – and will move on to Tennessee, Florida and Texas during May and June.  For more information contact Kate Colarulli.

Participating Organizations: Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 90 Days of Hope, Governor Schwarzenegger’s Task Force on Non-Traditional Mortgages, Franklin County (OH) Treasury, Pennsylvania Housing and Finance Agency, Georgia State Senators Nan Orrock, Emanuel Jones, Kaseem Reid, Horacena Tate and Councilwoman Joyce Shepherd; D&E Group; Housing Authority of Fulton County, Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Agency, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley, the Chicago Department of Housing, the Chicago Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, City of Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis-Memphis Branch, HUD, Memphis Housing Counseling Network, Shelby County, and Texas Task Force to Prevent Foreclosures

Participating mortgage servicers: Aurora, Bank of America, Carrington, Chase, Citi, Countrywide, EMC, GMAC/Homecomings Financial, HSBC, Home Loan Services, IndyMac, Litton, National City, Ocwen, Option One, Saxon, SunTrust, US Bank, Wamu, Wells Fargo, Wilshire.

About the HOPE NOW Alliance
HOPE NOW is an alliance between counselors, mortgage market participants, and mortgage servicers to create a unified, coordinated plan to reach and help as many homeowners as possible. The members of this alliance recognize that by working together, they will be more effective than by working independently. The Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development encouraged these leaders to form this alliance, which includes, American Bankers Association, American Financial Services Association, American Securitization Forum, Assurant, Inc., Aurora Loan Services, Avelo Mortgage, LLC., Bank of America, CCCS Atlanta, Inc., Carrington Mortgage Services, Chase, Citigroup Inc., Consumer Bankers Association, Consumer Mortgage Coalition, Countrywide Financial Corporation, EMC Mortgage, Inc., Fannie Mae, The Financial Services Roundtable, First Horizon Home Loans and First Tennessee Home Loans, Freddie Mac, GMAC ResCap, Home Loan Services, Inc. (d/b/a First Franklin Loan Services & NationPoint Loan Services), Homeownership Preservation Foundation, HomEq Servicing, Housing Partnership Network, The Housing Policy Council, HSBC Finance, Indymac Bank, LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc./LoanCare Servicing Center, Litton Loan Servicing, MERS, Mortgage Bankers Association, National City Mortgage Corporation, Nationstar Mortgage, LLC., NeighborWorks America, Ocwen Loan Servicing, Option One Mortgage Corporation, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Saxon Mortgage Services, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc., State Farm Insurance Companies, Strategic Recovery Group, LLC., SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., Washington Mutual, Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, and Wilshire Credit Corporation.