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More free help to stop foreclosures

By Stella M. Hopkins

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Published: September 16, 2009

CHARLOTTE - More N.C. homeowners threatened with losing their homes to foreclosure can now get help under a state program expanded Tuesday.

The State Home Foreclosure Prevention Project, already credited with saving nearly 2,000 people from foreclosure, is now available at no cost to every state homeowner struggling to make mortgage payments.

The program started in November to help subprime borrowers, but the declining economy means a wider swath of homeowners are facing foreclosure. Homeowners can call a toll-free number and be linked to free counseling, which ranges from budgeting help to working out a repayment plan with lenders.

Homeowners are urged to call as soon as they are having trouble with payments, not wait until they're close to losing their homes.

State officials also reiterated that scammers promising to save homes for a fee have victimized many people and that it's against N.C. law to charge an upfront fee for foreclosure assistance.

"Do not pay anyone that claims they will help you work out your mortgage loan," said Mark Pearce, N.C. deputy commissioner of banks, when announcing the service Tuesday. "You can get better assistance for free from North Carolina's (program)."

Statewide, foreclosure filings rose 43 percent in August, compared with a year ago, according to Observer analysis of court data compiled by the state. Filings, which mark the start of foreclosures, rose above 6,500 for the first time last month.

Mecklenburg County had an 80 percent increase to 1,316, the second-highest number on record for the county.

Pearce and Attorney General Roy Cooper also announced a public awareness campaign that started Tuesday with TV ads in the Raleigh area. No tax dollars are being used for the ads, the state said. The funding comes from the N.C. Association of Realtors, the State Employees Credit Union and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. Pearce, Cooper and The Center for Responsible Lending are seeking money to take the ads statewide.

The banking commission is working with Money Management International, a large national provider of telephone counseling, to handle additional calls expected under the new program.