Washington, DC – May 24, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Representatives from more than a dozen mortgage servicers plus several local HUD-approved housing counselors were on hand last week in Anaheim and San Bernardino, California to assist struggling homeowners with their mortgages.
The four days of events saw 2,576 at-risk homeowners show up to learn about their options to make their mortgage payments more affordable and avoid foreclosure. It also afforded homeowners the chance to bring in any documents needed to complete applications for the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
“HOPE NOW has participated in face to face events in southern California five times since October of last year. Our servicer members have worked hard on the ground to work directly with at-risk borrowers and we feel like we are making progress, even in these hardest hit housing markets. We are grateful for the hard work of everyone involved and appreciate the efforts of our non-profit and government partners in making these events successful and meaningful,” said Faith Schwartz, Executive Director of the HOPE NOW Alliance.
“Already over 1.2 million homeowners have gotten help from the Making Home Affordable Program–with more Californians in the program than any other state,” said Phyllis Caldwell, Chief of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Homeownership Preservation Office. “These free homeowner events provide a good opportunity for homeowners across the country to talk one-on-one with their mortgage servicer and a HUD-approved housing counselor to learn about their options to lower their monthly mortgage payments and avoid foreclosure.”
Martha, a homeowner from Mission Hills, CA, attended the May 11th event in Anaheim and left with good news from her mortgage servicer.
“We’ve been living on just one income for a while, since my husband was laid off from his construction job and it has been difficult to make our mortgage payments. We were rejected for a loan modification once, but I heard about the event and decided to come and meet with my bank. I met with Citi and the representative was able to put us into a loan modification that reduces our payments by almost $800 a month,” she said. These free homeownership preservation events continue with workshops scheduled for May 24 in Columbus, Ohio; May 26 in Kansas City, Missouri; June 2 in San Francisco, California; and June 3 and 4 in Oakland, California.
For more information about upcoming events, visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov or www.HOPENOW.com.
The Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program was created to help millions of homeowners refinance or modify their mortgage payments to a level that is more affordable or transition to more affordable housing through the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program. For more information, go to www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov.
HOPE NOW is the industry-created alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, counselors, and other mortgage market participants, brought together by the Financial Services Roundtable, Housing Policy Council and Mortgage Bankers Association, that has developed and is implementing a coordinated plan to help as many homeowners as possible prevent foreclosure and stay in their homes. For more information, go to www.HopeNow.com or call the free Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at (888) 995-HOPE (4673).
Media Contact:
Brad Dwin
(202) 589-1938
brad (at) hopenow (dot) com
