A campaign dubbed “Keep Your Home. Know Your Loan.” was announced Wednesday morning at the offices of Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS). NHS is a City agency offering free mortgage delinquency counseling and default resolution counseling. Most HUD-approved counseling agencies lack the resources for marketing and outreach.
The new campaign will spread awareness through print, radio, and television public service announcements.
“Keep Your Home. Know Your Loan.” is part of a national effort to prevent the loss of homes through foreclosures. “For the past two years the foreclosure crisis has really hammered the American economy, many families have lost their homes and as a result there are hundreds of thousands of vacant homes across the country; unfortunately New York City has been no exception,” said Steve Preston, HUD Secretary.
“You know, foreclosures are unexpected, they’re costly challenges to local governments. Vacant buildings are easily vandalized, neighborhoods are transformed when people lose their homes, lives of families are disrupted, tax revenues are lost, and the companies investing in home mortgages not only lose money but because of that many jobs are lost.
“Four months ago the president and Congress established the neighborhood stabilization act to offer nearly $4 billion to communities across the country that have been hard hit by the crisis,” said Preston. “The Department of Housing and Urban Development has worked very quickly to get that money into the hands of those communities.
“Today I am pleased to announce that HUD is awarding over $24 million to New York City and over $54 million to the state of New York for purchase, renovation, or development of vacant or abandoned homes. This money can be used to help re-sell a home, turn the home into affordable rental housing, or create more facilities for people who are homeless. The funding should be an energizing catalyst here for the City’s effort to address the foreclosure crisis.”
The majority of funding will be directed to the neighborhoods that have been hit the hardest by the financial crisis. Christine Quinn, speaker for the New York City Council, explained that one foreclosed house is much more than just a vacant building. A foreclosed house will fall into disrepair without maintenance, the grass won’t be cut, and peeling paint won’t be painted over. Eventually other houses on the same street will follow and fall into disrepair, and then entire blocks will be lost.
“There are many reasons for the crisis, reasons and causes that appear throughout the process of buying a home and funding a mortgage. Many of these problems could’ve been avoided if borrowers had been more aware of the terms of their mortgages,” said Preston.
“People need the right mortgage for their home and their circumstances; they need an affordable mortgage that doesn’t have surprises, that doesn’t have mysterious add-ons or unexpected adjustments or payments. Financial security comes with information, understanding and responsible actions. Borrowers need to be empowered with clear and better knowledge of the mortgage process so housing counselors are absolutely vital to that process.”
Many homeowners look for help too late in their financial crisis, which severely limits their loan modification options. This new campaign targets homeowners who are three to six months away from defaulting on their mortgage, resetting an adjustable-rate mortgage, or are dealing with unemployment or mounting health care costs in 2009.