Contact: Aaron Groen
202-225-2071

Congresswoman highlights free foreclosure prevention counseling service

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) today urged North Carolina homeowners who expect to have difficulty making their mortgage payments to get help as soon as possible. Rep. Foxx advised at-risk homeowners to call 1-888-995-HOPE for free, confidential help from the HOPE NOW Alliance’s free HOPE hotline.

“The best way to ensure you don’t lose your home is to get help at the first sign of trouble,” Foxx said. “If you are having trouble making payments, you can call 1-888-995-HOPE for free foreclosure prevention counseling from expert counselors.”

In North Carolina there already have been more than 45,500 foreclosure cases during the first 11 months of 2007, according to data from the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. Studies show that half of homeowners who enter foreclosure never contact their lender for help. The earlier homeowners seek help the easier it is to avoid foreclosure.

“If you recently received a letter from the HOPE NOW coalition, please open it immediately and call your mortgage lender,” Rep. Foxx said. “The folks at HOPE NOW want to help homeowners in distress avoid foreclosure.”

Like borrowers, lenders view foreclosure as the last possible resort, after all other options have been exhausted. The earlier a homeowner contacts a lender, the more choices the lender has in coming up with alternatives to a foreclosure.

Click here to listen to a message for at-risk homeowners from Rep. Virginia Foxx.

About the HOPE NOW Alliance: The HOPE NOW Alliance is a group of counselors, mortgage market participants and mortgage servicers working with the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a plan to help as many homeowners affected by the recent mortgage crunch as possible. The Alliance sent letters to more than 300,000 at-risk borrowers in late-November urging them to seek help if they thought they might fall behind on their payments.

For more information on the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline visit: www.995hope.org

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