Over 1,000 homeowners in North Carolina were able to save their homes from foreclosures under the state foreclosed home prevention program, according to Governor Bev Perdue, who partnered with the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks to carry out the program.
The foreclosed home prevention program, passed last year by the state assembly, required mortgage lenders to notify the state before they start foreclosure proceedings on subprime mortgages so that the bank commissioner can delay foreclosure actions by one month if his office believes the mortgages can be saved.
NCCOB deputy commissioner Mark Pearce said the success of the state’s foreclosed home prevention program shows that cooperation among lenders, state officials and counselors can stop unnecessary foreclosures and save neighborhoods from deterioration and families from homelessness.
During the first 7 months of the foreclosed home prevention program, more than 3,000 homeowners were counseled by HUD-certified foreclosure consultants and over 1,000 homes were saved from foreclosure.
The state’s foreclosed home prevention program had access to more than 150 HUD-certified foreclosure counselors across North Carolina and to a network of voluntary lawyers able to provide foreclosure defense.
Borrowers who took out subprime loans can also have their loans reviewed by volunteers trained to look for possible violations of predatory lending laws by mortgage lenders. Program personnel also monitor the progress of ongoing loan modification work-outs and help make follow-ups with lenders and servicers.
A homeowner in Wake County was one of the over 1,000 residents helped under the program. He became delinquent on his adjustable-rate mortgage loan when it reached its readjustment period and his rate increased to more than 11 percent. The NCCOB connected the homeowner to a counselor who negotiated with the bank, which subsequently agreed to lower the rate to only 6 percent. Now, the borrower pays only $677 a month, a big drop from the previous monthly payment of $996.
Another homeowner, a Mecklenburg County resident, missed some months of payment after her monthly income was reduced. She talked with a counselor who helped her make a budget and presented it to the servicer together with a loan modification application. The lender agreed to reduce her current rate of 7.25 percent to a three-year rate revision schedule: 3.25 percent for the first year, 4.25 percent for the second year, and 4.65 percent for the third year.
The two homeowners above represent only two of over a thousand North Carolina families helped under the state’s foreclosed home prevention program. Indeed, much can be done if various sectors of society help each other to solve problems affecting families and communities.
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