HUD Works with Congressman Johnson to Fight Foreclosures

(l-r) Pastor Williams, Mr. Beatty, Ed Jennings

Nearly 500 Georgia homeowners crowded into the Salem Bible Church in Lithonia, a suburb of Atlanta, recently to take advantage of Congressman Hank Johnson's (http://hankjohnson.house.gov/), Georgia's 4th Congressional District, efforts to assist those facing foreclosure apply for free foreclosure prevention services to include the Georgia HomeSafe Program (https://www.homesafegeorgia.com/). HUD Southeast Regional Administrator, Ed Jennings, Jr. provided encouraging remarks stressing the need to act on the information they received and to spread the word. Carrie Harris, CEO of D&E a HUD approved housing counseling agency and her staff provided extensive on the spot assistance to homeowners.

Homeowners were able to apply for free foreclosure prevention services with a HUD approved housing counselor and worked face to face with them to keep their homes. A recent Urban Institute study found that borrowers in foreclosure were 70 percent more likely to get up to date on payments if they received counseling. Another study found that 9-in-10 families who received foreclosure counseling from HUD-approved counselors continued to live in their homes 18 months later.

Crowd at the event

Homeowners were also introduced to the HomeSafe Georgia Program (https://www.homesafegeorgia.com/). Georgia Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Mike Beatty's office, which manages the program, was also in attendance and emphasized that the program is high tech but will be high touch in terms of working more directly with those in need. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs manages the $340 million program as part of the Administration's Hardest Hit Fund (http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/The-Hardest-Hit-Fund-is-Available-to-Help-Homeowners-in-18-States-and-the-District-of-Columbia-like-Paul-in-North-Carolina.aspx). The program's goal is to help eligible unemployed or underemployed homeowners facing foreclosure stay in their homes.

Earlier this year there was an historic, $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement the Obama Administration and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 49 states, including Attorney General Olens, reached with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers. 

The settlement provides tens of billions in direct relief for families. It forces lenders to reduce the size of exploding, unaffordable loans. It forces them to refinance loans for underwater homeowners. And it forces them to pay billions of dollars to hard-hit states like Georgia. In all, 67,000 Georgia homeowners, from Atlanta to Athens, and Albany to Savannah, will receive as much as $815 million in benefits from the agreement.

Go to avoiding foreclosure to find a HUD approved housing counselor near you that may be able to help you avoid foreclosure or help someone you know. To learn if you are eligible for the national mortgage settlement go to national mortgage servicing settlement. Please go to the HomeSafe Georgia Program (https://www.homesafegeorgia.com/) to learn about the foreclosure prevention program for eligible unemployed or underemployed homeowners at risk of losing their homes.

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