Michigan Attorney General Cox Helps Fight Foreclosed Homes

With Michigan battered with a foreclosure rate of 1 house in every 136 housing units, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox organized a counseling workshop on Tuesday to help homeowners their houses from becoming foreclosed homes.

By 3 p.m., over 1,700 people had attended the workshop, which was held at Ford Field in Detroit. The workshop ran until 7 p.m. and participants need to pay $6 to register.

A total of 25 mortgage servicers met with troubled borrowers, including Chase, Bank of America, Countrywide Home Loans, American Home Loan Mortgage, Citi Mortgage, Ocwen Loan Servicing and Flagstar Bank.

Fannie Mae representatives also participated in the event by explaining to homeowners how they can move away from the risk of foreclosed homes under President Obama’s affordable home program.

State officials and nonprofit counselors certified by HUD also joined to assist participants worried about foreclosed homes.

Large numbers of Michigan foreclosures has put the state on sixth place in RealtyTrac’s ranking of foreclosures by states. The state had a total of 12,564 foreclosures in February, including counts of default notices, sales notices and bank foreclosed homes for sale.

Among the distressed homeowners at the Ford Field workshop was Robert Martin, whose take-home income was drastically reduced when his employer Ford Motor Co. downsized working hours and wages. His wife Sally has been jobless since she was dismissed from her nonprofit job in 2007.

The Martins are in default by just one month, so their lender Bank of America told them it will suspend their payments for 3 months and then later modify their loan to reduce their monthly payments.

Cox talked about the importance of the American dream when he was asked about the workshop. He reiterated his commitment to reduce the number of foreclosed homes in Michigan, which he claimed is one of the best places to fulfill one’s dream of owning a home.

Cox also added that the cost of coordinating the workshop, including two other forums to be held on Wednesday and Thursday, is funded from the settlement negotiated by the state with Countrywide Financial in 2008.

Another couple who attended the forum were Ferndale residents Dale and Mary Sprague, who are not expecting any modification because they have both lost their jobs. The couple said they were hoping their lender would help them walk away from their mortgage with some cash. Despite the impending addition of their house to list of foreclosed homes, the Spragues are still thankful that they do not have other big debts and that their children are all grown up.

Related Posts:

• Foreclosures May Lead to Opportunities
• Real Estate Pair Saves Home from Foreclosed Homes Auction
• Getting to Know Foreclosures
• Michigan Foreclosures Encourage Fraudulent Actions of Some
• Lawmaker Helps Contain Foreclosures Homes in Brooklyn