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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Foreclosure Update: Prevention Partnership Saves Hundreds of Homes from Foreclosure
Posted by Media Release
Photo courtesy of here.
Bipartisan County-City Effort Showing Results; Citizens Can Call 211 for Help
In 2007, housing counselors through the County-supported Homeowner Preservation Partnership saved over 436 homes from foreclosure, well ahead of the one year goal of saving 300 homes. All together, the five partnering counseling agencies assisted 1,177 homeowners, with hundreds of additional homeowners in the process of receiving help. With the estimated community cost of a foreclosure being as much as $60,000, the initiative has preserved up to $26 million in property value.
“This success shows that just because a foreclosure is filed does not mean that a citizen needs to lose their home. It means they need to pick up the phone and call our housing counselors (through 211),” said Commissioner David Pepper.
Despite the success of this program, the overall crisis remains. According to the Clerk of Courts, Hamilton County has seen 1,756 foreclosures filed for the first three months of 2008. That’s compared to 6,276 filed in all of 2007.
“We believe most people can prevent the foreclosure by being proactive. When the worry sets in about being able to pay your bills…that’s when you pick up the phone and call your lender,” Elizabeth Tull, Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, said at today’s County meeting.
If a homeowner is already in the foreclosure process, the Hamilton County Homeowner Preservation Partnership urges them to call 211 to be connected with a free housing counselor.
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15 Apr 2008 at 10:28 am | #
That’s good to see that even a few homeowners get some help from these programs. The biggest problem in helping people stop foreclosure is educating them on what options they might have available. Too many people just leave their homes and move into a rental, when there could be plenty of solutions available to them. Some of them may even be able to lower their payments.
Just being afraid of being sued and dealing with the mortgage company is the wrong response to falling behind on the mortgage. Abandoning the home is even worse, because it will just attract squatters and more crime and drive property values down. If the foreclosure crisis is to be solved, it will have to be at local levels with creative programs.