Agency offers aid in housing

Another round of
foreclosures is expected
this fall.

BY ANGIE SCHMITT

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Ohio, home to some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, is deep into the housing crisis, and experts say it’ll be getting worse.

Embattled homeowners, however, are not without a safety net.

Half a dozen government and nonprofit agencies are working to keep Mahoning Valley homeowners, well, homeowners.

And, local financial experts say, a proactive approach and some assistance can reverse a potentially devastating situation.

Last year, the Youngstown-based Family Service Agency helped hundreds of families keep their homes. Offering no-charge, individual foreclosure counseling, the organization serves as an intermediary between homeowners and their lenders, said Danielle Lazor, director of the organization’s Family Financial Services Program.

“We saw 2,285 people [last] year,” said Lazor. “A lot of them were because of adjustable-rate mortgages.”

Over the last quarter, foreclosure counseling managed to save about 75 percent of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority’s clients from repossession, said Marnette Nelson, homeownership coordinator. The agency began offering foreclosure prevention counseling in 2007.

“It can be a matter of just going in to the financial institution and modifying a loan from an adjustable- to a fixed-rate loan,” said Nelson. “Most of the time, that’s what happens.”

But financial counselors say there’s little they can do for homeowners who have waited until they’re five or six months behind on payments to seek assistance.

“It’s not just going to go away because they don’t answer their phone or check their mail,” said Lazor. “They need to be proactive.”

Both YMHA and Family Service Agency are bracing themselves for a rush this fall when the latest round of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to increase.

Between 150,000 and 200,000 subprime loans valued at approximately $14 billion are scheduled to rise statewide, according to a statement from Gov. Ted Strickland.

It’s not just threatened homeowners that suffer as the housing crisis worsens, said Nelson.

“These abandoned homes are a blight to the neighborhood,” said Nelson.

“It rolls into declining home values and market values throughout the area.”

In 2006, the latest year for which data is available, Mahoning County recorded 1,946 foreclosures, according to Policy Matters Ohio. That total represents a 92 percent increase over 2001.

That’s why the Mahoning County Treasurer’s Office is hoping to contain the problem with an initiative known as the Save Our Homes Task Force. Jamael Tito Brown, director of operations and outreach for the treasurer’s office, is working to develop the countywide resource center for homeowners.

The agency was recommended by Strickland in October. The governor hopes to establish such a task force in all of Ohio’s 88 counties. Brown hopes to have the organization functional by this fall.

In the meantime, groups such as the Family Service Agency are determined to meet the demand for foreclosure services no matter how it climbs.

“We’re like the best-kept secret,” said Lazor. “Because our services are free.”

aschmitt@vindy.com