Foreclosure: Many Ashamed About Impending Foreclosures

Four years ago Ellen Scrivens had bought a house. She refinanced her loan contracting an interest-only loan but two months later she lost her job and began to falter in her monthly payments. At the time of refinancing the lender had said that the monthly payment of about $2,000 included taxes and insurance. But in reality it did not. However with a running job she could have managed the installment. But six months without a job shook her foundations. Scrivens now sought the help of a counseling agency. She contacted Frederick County Action Agency, and Joe Baldi ex-alderman took up her case. Baldi and his colleague Peterson have taken the lead in this matter of helping people to stay on in the houses that are their homes.

Many people are ashamed to come out in the open about their impending foreclosure because of social stigma. The foreclosure fires rage on with no signs of the flames being doused. The numbers seeking help from FCCAA have doubled each quarter. It went up from 12 individuals in the third quarter to 24 in the fourth and jumping to 48 during the first quarter of this year. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands are in need of help.

Keith Patterson, a real estate agent blames defective government policy for this debacle. Even the state’s highest tax official, Comptroller Peter Franchot lays the blame on the Congress. For the last few years Washington has become the Wild West where any and everything is allowed. A price has to be paid by all for many years to come for this laxity he went on to add. They just looked the other way while all this was going on in the sub-prime category. The matter of minimum down payment, proof of income levels as well as floating interest rates was ignored. The lenders asked for 80% on the first mortgage, 10% on the second one and 10% on the third. Sometimes it was 80/20 contracts. The second and third agreements were at much higher rates ranging from 10% to 15%. At first the going was good but soon it became a problem for the mortgage industry when with falling real estate these mortgages could no longer be sold to Walls Street.

However the good news is that free help is available in Frederick County if foreclosure victims seek timely help.