“At the point that you are pretty sure you are even going to
miss even one payment, would be a good time to take steps against
foreclosure immediately,” said Colorado Division of Housing
Community Relations Director Ryan McMaken. “You should contact your
lender or consumer councilor as soon as possible.”
Before missing a payment, it is much easier for a lender to work
out a forbearance for the borrower or to modify the loan in some
way. They can give the borrower a forbearance for a few months and
add that to the back of the loan, McMaken said. This way, there is
a possibility the borrower maybe able to get a job by then and “the
clock isn’t ticking on your foreclosure if you just keep missing
payments.”
Forbearances are fairly rare, McMaken said. A lot of people who
call in are already behind in payments and it is hard to get a
forbearance at that point.
Repayment plans, which are similar, are more common, McMaken
said. It is similar, but if the borrower misses a few payments, he
or she can work out a payment plan.
When asked if lenders are willing to work with homeowners, he
said the ones the hotline has been in contact with have been very
helpful.
There is a productive and non-productive way to work with
borrowers. JP Morgan Chase takes calls works through repayment
plans, trained to work with councilors and borrowers.
McMaken said all lenders would probably like to work better with
their homeowners, for reasons of not being sufficiently staffed
they end up in a situation where they are not communicating with
their borrowers. Councilors can help the borrower contact the right
person at the lender and contact the right person to get a
repayment plan.
All lenders know that it cost them a lot of money to foreclose,
it’s much cheaper to do a repayment plan.
“It’s such a steep learning curve for borrowers to know who to
contact and the lenders don’t have the resources to do that
education right now, so the foreclosure hotline is doing
education,” McMaken said.
On its site, www.stopmortgagefraud.com, the Mortgage Bankers
Association offers borrowers a bill of rights and tips about
abusive lending practices.
Here is a sampling of some of those rights.
* A borrower has the right to clear and forthright explanations
of the terms and conditions of a loan.
* A borrower has the right to timely and truthful disclosures
regarding the rates and costs of the loan.
* A borrower has the right to obtain credit counseling prior to
closing on a loan.
* A borrower has the right to a fair and equitable resolution to
any disputes related to their loan.
* A borrower has the right not to be subject to deceptive
marketing tactics.
The site also has a survey about predatory lending practices to
help borrowers determine if they should seek the advice of the
Attorney General’s office or report possible predatory and abusive
lending.
Phone number for hotlines and foreclosure help
services:
Foreclosure hotline 1-877-601-HOPE, Care and Share 719-528-6767,
Consumer Credit Counseling Service 719-576-0909, El Paso County
Public Trustee 719-520-6780, Job Services 719-473-6220 or
719-574-3762, Pikes Peak Legal Services 719-471-0380 and Partners
in Housing 719-473-8890.
Foreclosures in Gleneagle and Black Forest NDF’s in
80908 Foreclosures in Tri-Lakes NDF’s in 80132 and
80133
2003 7 31 8 35
2004 16 36 19 51
2005 14 29 12 43
2006 7 28 22 57
Source: Foreclosure information provided by the El Paso County
Assessor’s Office and NDF information provided by Denver-based SKLD
Information Services LLC.