Foreclosure Counselling In Nevada

Posted in Foreclosures, June 18th, 2008 |

For the 17th running month Nevada remained holding to the top position as the worst foreclosure offender. In May the foreclosure rate in Clark County is 1:96. Alarmed at the continued trend the leaders are organizing foreclosures counseling sessions to stem the tide. Senator Harry Reid (D- Nevada) has given the lead. The third foreclosure prevention session was held on the weekend. The meetings help the borrowers to find out if they can skirt foreclosures and if so through what means. Reid clarified that these sessions cannot solve the problems of each and everybody but useful information will give some a chance.

The foreclosure figures are grim – 1.8 million are being foreclosed upon, Reid disclosed. He added, ‘sadly, a lot of them are in Nevada.” In Nevada the foreclosure rate is 1:118. The worst pocket is Clark County where the ratio is 1:96. It is a 66% jump from the May of 2007 and 21% from April 2008. 7,880 houses were served with foreclosure notices in Clark County. These were inclusive of 4,286 default notifications.

Apart from being the top foreclosure offender, the state is also weighed down by the “highest debt load of any city in the nation.” With so many top-ranking positions there is little wonder that bankruptcies are common in Nevada, chipped in Michele Johnson of Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

Kirk Clausen of Wells Fargo Bank feels that despite this gloomy picture it is not always inevitable that foreclosures will have the last word. At the counseling sessions representative of 20 lenders were present who came forward to help people stay in the houses that are their homes. The lenders are sometimes amenable to modifying loans at lower rates, consolidating loans or freezing the rates. Clausen pressed house owners to contact the counselors at Cashman Center or their respective lenders without delay. It should be done as soon as the person gets to know that finances problems are beginning to blink. If the matter is delayed then nothing can be done.

If the hapless victim finds that there is no possibility of holding on to the house, then there are counselors for giving advice about what should be done next. There is the option of short sales wherein lenders permit the sale of the house at an amount that is less than the loan. In another alternative the borrower can deed the house to the lender, allowing the lender to take over the house and do the needful without having to foreclose.