Columbus, OH – August 20, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — With the Dayton metropolitan area ranked 29th in the nation in the rate of foreclosures during the second quarter of 2008 (RealtyTrac), the State of Ohio is sponsoring an event today to help Dayton-area residents avoid foreclosure.
Borrower Outreach Day is being held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the University of Dayton Arena, Boesch Lounge, 1801 Edwin C. Moses Blvd., Dayton. The event is being sponsored by the Ohio Department of Commerce in partnership with Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.
Note: To protect the privacy of the individuals attending this event, no cameras or video cameras will be permitted.
Speakers at today’s event are: Dean Lovelace, Dayton City Commissioner; Jim Cunningham, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Cornelius McGrady of Treasurer Cordray’s Office.
Borrower Outreach Days are an outgrowth of the number one recommendation of the Ohio Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, which called for borrower outreach events to encourage Ohioans to take action by contacting their mortgage servicer if they are concerned about possible foreclosure.
Today’s event in Dayton is the eleventh Borrower Outreach Day. Other events were held last week in Elyria, Youngstown and Canton and yesterday in Butler County.
At today’s Borrower Outreach Day, mortgage servicers are meeting one-on-one with borrowers who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments. The servicers are:
American Home Mortgage Servicing
Chase
Fifth Third Bank
Freddie Mac
Homecomings Financial
National City Mortgage
U.S. Bank Home Mortgage
Wells Fargo
Washington Mutual
Ocwen and Wilshire Credit Corp. (their borrowers will work with ESOP, a housing counseling agency that has a relationship with these servicers)
Housing experts and housing counselors are participating in the event and attendees are gaining valuable information from the following workshops:
· Rebuilding Your Credit
· Keys to Home Preservation
· Steps in the Foreclosure Process
· Borrower Beware: Foreclosure Rescue Scams
· The Option of Mediation
Borrower Outreach Day complements the State of Ohio’s Save the Dream campaign, which is designed to help Ohioans take action to save the dream of homeownership. The public awareness campaign includes an information-rich Web site at www.savethedream.ohio.gov and a telephone hotline (888-404-4674).
The core message of the Save the Dream campaign is for homeowners to:
· Contact their mortgage loan servicer at the first sign that they may have difficulty in making their mortgage payment.
· At the same time, work with a HUD-approved housing counselor and/or a legal aid or pro bono attorney.
More than 2,500 Ohioans have attended the 11 Borrower Outreach Days throughout the state and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Homeownership Preservation Clinic in Cleveland last August.
Contact: Dennis Ginty at (614) 644-9564
dennis.ginty (at) com.state.oh (dot) us
