As many Worcester families already know, the foreclosure crisis has hit our area particularly hard. Now a national group called the Neighborhoods Assistance Corporation of America is trying to bring a little relief to the Worcester area by working with local residents to pair them with banks to find a solution to their mortgage issues. Having face to face contact with a lender can make all the difference, said the director of communications for NACA. Having the decision maker right there in front of the homeowner really opens up the communications and makes the lender see the person behind the numbers in the file.
The group held a four-day event to bring homeowners and lenders together and the success of the event means more Massachusetts homeowners will save their homes from foreclosure. One attendee at the event said that she had been struggling for at least a year and was close to losing her home. With the help of the group’s event she is now saving over $500 per month and is not going to lose her home. Worcester has seen the number of foreclosures increase as more and more families are affected by the depressed housing markets and difficult economy on top of that.
The mission of NACA is to help homeowners who have been hit by hard times and are stuck with a mortgage they can no longer afford. By meeting one-on-one with homeowners they are able to better prepare them for meeting with a lender and in doing so prevent these families from being displaced. NACA’s contracts with several major banks, including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, provides them with some leverage with those banks when a homeowner in trouble comes to them for help.
If a homeowner can document and prove his or her current mortgage is unaffordable, NACA can help them lock in a low enough interest rate to help them stay in their home. NACA has held similar workshops all over the country and in some states several thousand people were lining up outside the doors before the start of the event.
Obviously the demand for mortgage refinancing and foreclosure assistance is greater than any one group’s ability to meet, however there are other resources available to help struggling homeowners. A Worcester real estate attorney can help you understand a variety of refinancing programs for your particular circumstances.
Source: GoLocalWorcester, “Effort to Help Worcester Foreclosed Families Picks Up,” Ashley Klann, July 24, 2012
Our law firm handles a wide variety of residential real estate issues, including mortgage refinancing and foreclosure assistance for residents in the greater Worcester, Massachusetts area.