Monday, March 31, 2008
One official warned attendees to beware of potential scams.
COLUMBUS (AP) — John King lost his job four years ago because of a heart condition, but the mortgage payments on his home keep rising. So the 58-year-old from Reynoldsburg showed up at a foreclosure fair Sunday to meet his lender face to face. By the time he went home, his monthly mortgage bill was $400 cheaper.
“This allows me to do what I need to do to get back on my feet,” he said.
Hundreds of Ohioans, armed with papers detailing their financial troubles, showed up at a suburban Columbus hotel for a workshop aimed at producing King’s good fortune.
The “Homeownership Preservation Forums” are sponsored by HOPE NOW, a collaboration of nonprofit, corporate and government partners, including the Housing and Urban Development.
But for some, King said, the workshop was too little, too late.
“We needed this back three months ago,” King said. “People in my family lost their homes because this did not come soon enough.”
The foreclosure fair was held in a cheerful white tent lighted by chandeliers, but the anxious people who filled it weren’t smiling. As they waited patiently for their turn to speak with lenders, public officials doled out financial advice, including State Treasurer Richard Cordray.
“There is a real pressure on everybody here to try to produce results,” Cordray said.
Tom Leech, regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, warned people to steer clear of potential scam artists offering to pay credit on a home on the brink of foreclosure.
The coalition is canvassing cities across the country that have been hit hard by the foreclosure crisis. The fairs help homeowners who may be too paralyzed with fear to pick up a phone and call their lender as they fall behind in their mortgage payments and risk foreclosure.
“They’re afraid, embarrassed,” said Paul Poston, district director for NeighborWorks America, one of the event’s sponsors. “Not understanding the situation or the ramifications has impeded people from asking for help.”
Ohio is the second state on the tour.
“In many ways, we look at Ohio as kind of a forerunner for what will happen in the rest of the nation,” said NeighborWorks spokeswoman Kate Colarulli.
In the rosiest of scenarios, cash-strapped homeowners like King walked out the door with a lower mortgage and a repayment plan. Others met with housing counselors to discuss their options.
The workshop helps produce HOPENOW’s goal: To bridge the communication barrier between borrowers and lenders. Fifty percent of borrowers heading into foreclosure have never interacted with their servicers, HOPENOW Director Larry Gilmore said.
HOPENOW’s toll-free number, which links homeowners to housing counselors, receives more than 4,500 calls a day.
Sandy Gaither attended the fair with her daughter, whose utilities were recently shut off because she couldn’t pay her mortgage. Her daughter scheduled an appointment with a housing counselor to assess her options.
“For those who are not delinquent, their mortgages are going up. But nobody wants to help them,” Gaither said. “They need more of these.”
Dion Spencer, HSBC’s director of consumer affairs, has been canvassing the nation for months on a mission to lower customers’ loans.
“I like the fact that the lenders are coming together,” he said. “Because it is our responsibility to stem this tide.”
Some homeowners attended the workshop as a pre-emptive measure, wary of falling into debt in a slowing economy. Carla Sowers, of Washington Courthouse, fell behind in mortgage payments after her mother passed away, and she feared she might lose her home.
But a meeting with her loan company at the workshop brought unexpected good news.
“I didn’t realize there were people a lot worse off than us,” Sowers said, wiping away tears. “I started crying, I was so relieved.”