The Escape Route From Foreclosure Fires

Posted in Foreclosure, Foreclosure Homes, Foreclosure Listings, Hud Foreclosure, Judicial Foreclosure, July 30th, 2007 |

The housing market is collapsing like a house of cards. Walls Street is beginning to wake up with a foreclosure headache. Figures released by Equifax/Moody’s Economy.com reveal that the number of foreclosures in Fort Lauderdale spiraled to 335%. In Flint, Mich, and Visalia, California the shooting up was as high as 986% and 1,587% respectively.

But Hari Sreenivasan of CBS News points to the silver lining behind the clouds in a series dealing with property solutions –‘Real Estate Real Solutions’.

Donna Young was one of them who did not buckle under. Last year this time with four children clinging to her and a divorce hanging over her head she did not lose either her heart or her suburban Atlanta house.

Nearly $4,000 behind in mortgage dues depression was beginning to get the better of her with all her hopes and efforts going up in smoke. Fortunately she turned to The Impact Group, a non-profit organization. It steered her with financial education and chalked out a budget for her by persuading the lenders to give her the opportunity to pay an extra $300 per month and catch up on her dues. She was also given extra time to regain her balance. Lenders are interested in getting back money.

The dark clouds of foreclosures have made housing advocates and lenders set up an umbrella for protecting victims. Foreclosure is not an isolated incident – it has a snowballing effect that sucks in the entire economy and society. A congressional report stated that it infected the property owner, the lender, property value of the region and consequently caused loss to the local government. Information about assistance is given out on the city’s water bills in Arlington, Texas. Public service announcements loudly offer help to the 1 million affected families annually drowning in foreclosures.
On an average a foreclosure costs $80,000 whereas preventing one is less than $3,300. The best time to anticipate the crisis is even before the first stumble. The trouble is that about half the victims never contact their lenders.

To come out of the crisis visit HUD and make sure that credit counselling agency is approved. Get in touch with your lender as soon you see signs of trouble in the horizon and start negotiating. The possibility is there of delayed longer time payments being allowed. Donna Young tells you to just hang on like her and eventually survive!

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