Hotline Assistance For Foreclosure Victims

Posted in Foreclosure, February 12th, 2008 |

For North Carolina victims of foreclosure help is only a telephone call away. The announcement was made by the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Banks. The call is toll free and many will benefit by learning about foreclosure prevention measures. The line operates round the clock. It will link the callers with non-profit agencies dealing with this matter. There are many options like modification, short sale, forbearance or refinancing. The main problem is that the house owners are in the dark about the many alternatives.

Surveys conducted by Freddie Mac show that nearly half of the foreclosure victims never contacted their lenders to avoid the inevitable. The mortgage lenders have a strong incentive in not opting for foreclosures as this is a time, energy and money consuming process.
The group has teamed together to set up a fund of $300,000 as seed money to give to counselors who are able to stop foreclosures. Additional funding is expected from the Congress and General Assembly. This will lead to expansion of the organization.

The help group will also connect the house owners with legal experts whose help they can take in the case of predatory or fraudulent lending. North Carolina has strong laws against such practices. The foreclosure victims may also be linked to FHA backed loans to get out of the present mess. Their strategy also includes buying a house before it forecloses and then leasing it back to the original owners linking the lease payments to the purchase of the unit.

The Hope Hotline is working with Neighbor Works America – also a non-profit body set up by Congress as well as with Homeownership Preservation Foundation, another body based in Minnesota. About 20 skilled counseling agencies will be backed to accept referrals from the Hotline. Assistance will be given that is not currently available on the national hotline.

Foreclosures are having a snowballing effect on the entire community causing all sections to sit up to the gravity of the problem. Thus it is to the interest of everybody to see that people stay in the houses that are their homes. Foreclosure is a costly process for the lenders. With too many houses weighing them down the lenders are facing a cash crunch with no mortgage payments rolling in. The government loses out on revenue and taxes with a drop in sales. Vacant houses attract criminal activity and disease. The picture is grim.