2 Million Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure

Hope Now has helped more than 2 million at-risk borrowers stay in their homes during the past 13 months. Despite this progress, foreclosures continue to climb; 91,752 families lost their homes in July. That represents an increase of 14% from June and more than double the number of July 2007, when only 42,043 homes went to foreclosure.

But even now, after months of publicity, many borrowers still fail to respond to Hope Now’s offers to help. Of the nearly 1.6 million letters that have gone out since November 1, 2007 to borrowers 60 days past due, more than 80% of borrowers still had not called their lenders a month after receiving the letters.

Hope Now’s repayment plans simply give borrowers more time to pay lenders what they owe, either by extending the term of the loan or by raising monthly payments. They work best for borrowers who were thrown off the track by one-time events, such as an illness or temporary job loss. But by and large they’re considered to be fairly ineffective at preventing foreclosures in the long run, since borrowers often cannot afford the original terms of their loans.

If you’re in even the slightest bit of trouble financially where getting behind in your monthly mortgage is beginning to look like a reality for you, talk to your lender BEFORE it happens. Don’t wait until you’ve missed a payment or two. Lenders don’t want your home. They want you to stay in it and keep paying, so most will work with you if you just communicate to them that you need temporary help.

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