[IHHAAC Update] FYI - Home Retention Workshop 8/24/08

Tue Aug 19 10:15:56 EDT 2008

FYI

Compliments of Council Member Tony Knotts' Office

Please see attachment and email below for additional information:

________________________________

From: donnahurley at hopeinconline.com 
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2008 11:01 AM
Subject: [FWD: Article in the Gazette]

Many people are struggling to pay their mortgages in this housing
climate, and housing foreclosures are a significant problem here in
Prince George's County (Gazette article below).  Holy Family Church in
Hillcrest Heights working with Housing Options and Planning Enterprises
(H.O.P.E.), Civil Justice, Prince George's Department of Housing and
Community Development (DHCD) and ProBono Resource Center of Maryland is
offering a workshop on August 24th for homeowners who are struggling
with their mortgages.  

Please help get this word out about this Home Retention Workshop.
Attached is a flyer with more details.

ProBono Attorneys and HUD-approved counselors will be present for
one-on-one consultation, for individuals pre-registered by calling
(301-883-HOME). 

Donna Badgett Hurley

Housing Options & Planning Enterprises, Inc. (H.O.P.E.)

6192 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 405

Oxon Hill, MD 20745

301-567-3330 (Office)

301-567-3320 (Fax)

website: www.hopefinancial.org

THERE'S ALWAYS HELP WITH HOPE!

If you or someone you know needs help preparing to buy a home, repairing
credit, or preventing foreclosure, please call now. You may also visit
our website to learn more information on free seminars and consultation.

	More than 2,000 owners late on mortgages this spring; counseling
	assistance to increase
	by Daniel Valentine | Staff Writer

	Prince George's County continues to top the state in
foreclosures and
	late mortgage payments, according to a report released last
week.
	In a study tracking mortgage defaults in Maryland from March to
June,
	Prince George's accounted for 32 percent of the 8,929
	foreclosure-related events in Maryland. Montgomery County was
second
	worst in the state with 1,314, according to the report from the
	Department of Housing and Community Development.

	The Prince George's County portion includes 2,411 households
that were
	listed as being late on their mortgage payments. The county also
had 292
	cases of pending foreclosure sales and 150 reports of homes
being seized
	by banks or lenders after owners were unable to pay their bills.

	Housing Secretary Raymond Skinner said the county's high amount
of new
	and larger homes, many that were purchased with expensive
subprime
	loans, propelled the county to the top of the foreclosures list
again,
	citing studies that show foreclosures are more common among
minorities
	as well.

	"There is a real racial dimension to what we're seeing in
	foreclosures,"' said Skinner, a Bowie resident.

	Skinner and others have been urging homeowners who anticipate
problems
	paying their mortgages to seek help with refinancing and credit
	counseling. A state Web site, www.mdhope.org, lists resources
for people
	facing default.

	However, of the five nonprofits listed to provide housing and
financial
	help to Prince George's residents, only one answered or returned
	repeated phone messages last week, and he said the organizations
are
	feeling squeezed. State officials ask the local agencies to
return phone
	calls within 24 hours.

	"Everyone who calls, each case is radically different," said
Billy
	Cogman, head of the Kairos Foundation in Camp Springs. "We're
stretched
	to capacity."

	Cogman and Skinner said that people seeking help should first
call the
	state hotline at 1-877-462-7555, where workers take the person's
basic
	information and refer them to a local group.

	"That way we can triage and get a sense of what a person's issue
is,"
	said Skinner, who said the state is looking to add more
counseling
	assistance soon.

	As it has across the country, the glut of high-risk mortgage
loans led
	to the current deluge of foreclosures in Prince George's County.
Many
	homeowners turned to brokers offering subprime mortgages -
	non-traditional loans designed for people with credit problems.
Subprime
	loans often start with lower interest rates that gradually
increase.

	National studies have estimated that blacks and Hispanics are
far more
	likely to have been given subprime loans, Skinner said.

	Cogman and Skinner said recent studies show about half the
foreclosures
	result from people who never contact their lender or a
counselor. This
	spring, state officials changed the foreclosure process to give
	homeowners up to 90 days to pay up their mortgage before losing
their
	home. Until then, owners had just 15 days between being notified
and
	foreclosure.

	With 222 reports, Capitol Heights had the most foreclosure
activity in
	the state, according to the latest report, which also listed the
ZIP
	codes for Fort Washington, Bowie and Upper Marlboro as "hot
spots" where
	more than 100 homes were tagged in default last spring.

	The high number of people losing their homes continues to drag
down the
	local real estate market, where people trying to sell their
homes vastly
	outnumber those able to purchase. According to a local sales
tracking
	company, just 409 homes were sold in July in the county, while
there
	were 7,858 properties listed for sale. July is usually one of
the
	highest months for real estate sales.

	Low home sales have caused losses in the county government,
which relied
	on fees from real estate transfers for a portion of its revenue.
With
	sales about half of what they were a year ago, the county has
projected
	a $48 million deficit for the year.

	Because of state changes making the foreclosure process longer
from
	default to seizure, the amount of foreclosure activity in the
state
	declined in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of
2008,
	according to the report.

	E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine at gazette.net.

	Karen E. Ashby
	Department of Housing and Community Development
	Division of Neighborhood Revitalization
	100 Community Place
	Crownsville, MD 21032
	(410) 514-7289 (phone)
	(410) 514-7925 (fax)
	ashby at mdhousing.org

..............................................................................
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