Representatives from more than a dozen mortgage servicers plus several local U.S Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)-approved housing counselors were on hand recently in Anaheim and San Bernardino, Calif. 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," said Faith Schwartz, executive director of the HOPE NOW Alliance. "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."
"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, Calif, attended the May 11 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.
For more information, visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov or www.HOPENOW.com.
