Riverside Board Of Supervisors Considering Funds For Foreclosure Education
The number of defaults is rising in Riverside County. Inevitably it will lead to more foreclosures. To prevent this the Board of Supervisors of the county are thinking of granting $40,000 for foreclosure prevention educational programme. The Economic Development Agency of Riverside is requesting the board to sanction the amount to help the growing number of foreclosure victims. The agency strongly pleaded for the sufferers facing acute financial hardship.
Proposals are afoot for setting up Foreclosure Prevention Program to be jointly operated by a non-profit body – Fair Housing Council of Riverside County. The latter makes enquiries about charges of discrimination being made against house buyers and mediates in cases of dispute between landlord and tenant. The focus is on educating the house owners about the foreclosure menace and how best they can defend themselves from its onslaught.
According to latest statistics 1 out 100 houses are in foreclosure in December. The total number of foreclosure filings is 6,821 – including default and foreclosure notices as well as auction notifications and bank repossessions. Riverside ranked third among the counties in the state.
Last December US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson reached out sub-prime mortgage holders about to reset to a higher interest niche, to lock in their running rate for at least 7 years. The scheme known as Hope Now freezes the interest rates of qualifying borrowers if they can prove to the loan servicers that they will be in grave financial peril if they have to pay higher than what they are now paying. The scheme will suit about half the 2 million now facing the threat of foreclosure. As per numbers released by the office of the Governor Schwarsenegger approximately 500,000 sub-prime loans will rise in the current and following year.
The concern for the foreclosure victims is being felt from all sides because one foreclosed house is bringing down the value of other properties in the neighbourhood. These abandoned units are attracting criminal activity as well as becoming a source of health problem with overgrown gardens and stagnant pools. The lenders too are in a hurry and scurry to mend fences because the number of foreclosed houses do not fetch money but are rather white elephants, as they cannot be sold. The government is being deprived of taxes and revenue. Politicians of all shades are fishing in these troubled waters.
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