Utah Real Estate News Clips - Utah Real Estate

Hotline helps homeowners avoid foreclosure
August 1, 2006

A national foreclosure prevention hotline is helping homeowners throughout the country keep their homes. The hotline, provided by a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization, is free, confidential and offers advice and counseling to homeowners. The hotline is funded by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation.

When homeowners call the hotline, they will be transferred to one of four nonprofit HUD-certified agencies, said Lauren Crandall, a spokeswoman for the Homeownership Preservation Foundation. All of the counselors have at least five years of foreclosure counseling experience, she said. The counselors will talk to homeowners about their situations and how far they are behind on mortgage payments. Once the counselor knows the story, he/she works with the homeowner to develop a plan. The counselor helps with budgeting and sometimes acts as a negotiator between the borrower and the lender. The first session lasts about 30-45 minutes, with follow-up calls on an as-need basis.

“The biggest problem we find is people wait until they haven’t made a payment for six months,” Crandall said. “If they call before they miss a payment or right after their first missed payment, the opportunity is so much higher to keep them in the home.”

If you know of anyone facing foreclosure, have the person immediately call his/her lender, the hotline or some other nonprofit counseling agency, Crandall said. For more information about the hotline, call 1-888-995-HOPE or visit www.hpfonline.org.

Return to top