Menino Brings Seven National Mortgage Servicers to Town to Meet Face to Face with Boston Homeowners at Day-Long Event
April 07, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Thomas M. Menino, together with the Boston Home Center, today hosted hundreds of residents at the City’s second Homeowner Foreclosure Prevention Workshop in an effort to connect some of Boston’s most vulnerable homeowners with their mortgage servicer to see if they can avoid foreclosure. Today’s event, held at Madison Park High School in Roxbury, drew seven servicers, eight non-profit housing organizations, and more than 200 homeowners.
“We’re working hard to provide Boston’s struggling homeowners with resources to help them stay in their homes,” said Mayor Menino. “We know we cannot prevent all future foreclosures, because every situation is different. But we now know from experience that these workshops are a unique opportunity to talk with your lender face-to-face and see what can be done. We hope to be able to help even more people this year.”
Saturday’s Workshop was attended by nearly 250 residents who were able to meet with representatives from seven national mortgage servicers and 12 local non-profit organizations.
Today’s workshop is the City’s second; in March of 2008 Mayor Menino hosted a similar workshop in which five national servicers participated and nearly 100 Boston residents attended. At that time, Boston was among the few cities across the country to have hosted their own small-scale event at which residents’ privacy is a priority. Since then, several cities in Massachusetts have organized similar events and the Boston Federal Reserve teamed up with the Krafts to hold a major mortgage workout fair at Gillette Stadium last summer.
As was done last year, troubled borrowers were identified and invited directly by their servicer with a letter that included a list of important financial information for the homeowner to bring with them to the workshop. The Boston Home Center assisted the servicers in this outreach, sending letters and making phone calls to homeowners, encouraging them to attend.
Attendees were able to talk with housing counselors about foreclosure prevention, learn about available resources from the City and its partnering organizations, and meet one-on-one with their loan servicer to discuss their individual mortgage situation. The Boston Home Center also offered a seminar entitled “Organize Your Finances.”
The day-long workshop, which is part of the City’s ongoing foreclosure prevention and reclamation efforts, brought to town representatives from the following major national mortgage servicers (some of which have multiple names associated with them due to mergers): American Home Mortgage Servicing; Bank of America / LaSalle / Wilshire / Countrywide; Washington Mutual /Chase; Washington Mutual / GMAC; Wells Fargo / ASC / Wachovia; EMC, and Citi.
Among the participating non-profit organizations, were: Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation; Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation; ESAC; MassHousing; Mattapan Family Service Center; Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership; Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation; Urban Edge, as well as the City of Boston’s Rental Housing Resource Center.
The City’s Foreclosure Prevention Initiative took off in late 2005, as the Department of Neighborhood Development tracked an unusual spike in foreclosures rates. Between 2006 and 2008, Boston has been affected by approximately 1,750 foreclosures. During the same time period, however, the Boston Home Center has been able to help more than 450 homeowners avert foreclosure, preserving an estimated $135 million dollars in home values.
Last month, Mayor Menino announced that Boston’s foreclosure efforts would benefit from upwards of $8 million in combined federal and state resources made possible by the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.” These targeted funds, he said today, will boost the existing efforts of the City’s Foreclosure Intervention Team (FIT) to focus resources in those Boston neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.
The Boston Home Center (BHC), one of four program divisions within the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND), provides first-time homebuyers with educational courses and financial assistance, and markets homes developed for income-eligible, first-time homebuyers. The BHC also assists homeowners with education and foreclosure prevention counseling, and encourages strong, stable neighborhoods by providing residents with financing and technical assistance to maintain and improve their homes.
Homeowners with questions about foreclosure prevention, or the programs and services available to them are encouraged to call the Boston Home Center at 617.635.HOME or visit www.bostonhomecenter.com.
Contact: Lucy Warsh
