![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/09\/Neighborhood-Housing-Services-003-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Neighborhood")
<\/a>Molly Messick<\/p>
Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. offers free foreclosure prevention counseling to Idaho homeowners.<\/p><\/div>\n
Q:<\/span> First, what does foreclosure prevention counseling consist of?<\/p>\nA:<\/span> It’s awareness of where the borrower really is. Borrowers that I see, about 99 percent of them, have lost a job. They had high credit scores when they got their loans, but they are in a new situation, because of job loss or a reduction in wages or hours, and they don\u2019t know what to do. They\u2019ve tried to make their payments. They wish they could make their payments. And when they come to see us, they basically are paralyzed.<\/p>\nQ:<\/span> When someone sits down across from you and says, \u201cThis is the predicament I\u2019m in, and I have never dealt with this before,\u201d what\u2019s the first thing you say?<\/p>\nA:<\/span> You are not alone. You\u2019re just like people that I talk to every day. There are some options, and the first step is to know where you\u2019re at. <\/p>\nQ: <\/span>In other words, you want to know the details of their financial situation.\u00a0 When you say they have options, what are those options, generally?<\/strong><\/p>\nA:<\/span> Well, the whole process is numbers. The first thing we do is get a very detailed budget. We have them fill it out at home, before they come to see us. Then we go through it item-by-item to get a good idea of where the money goes.<\/p>\nThe numbers show us what kind of a situation the person or the family is in, and what causes that situation. Is it the house? Or is it other debt? We need to understand what it is so they can make changes to their situation.<\/p>\n
Q: <\/span> Part of what you’re assessing is their eligibility for loan modification programs, is that right?<\/strong><\/p>\nA:<\/span> That\u2019s right.\u00a0 In most cases, loan modification is under the federal Making Home Affordable Program. And then lenders also have programs.<\/p>\nQ:<\/span> About what percentage of people that you meet with actually do have the option of loan modification?\u00a0 And what percentage will, in the end, lose their homes?<\/p>\nA:<\/span>\u00a0Roughly half of my clients, when they come in, will get a modification or sell their home on a short sale. In other words, they won\u2019t be foreclosed on.<\/p>\nGetting the modification is one thing. But everyone who comes to see us needs to know how to move on. They need to understand what to expect. One of the things that we do early on in our process is to go through the foreclosure process and the timeline. For example, we tell them that in the first 60 days, they\u2019re going to get a lot of collection calls. We can help our clients by helping them understand where they are in the process, so they don\u2019t have to guess.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/span> You have said that one of the most important functions you can serve is to shake people out of stasis, and make them understand that they have to make decisions.<\/p>\nA:<\/span> That\u2019s right. They come in, and they don\u2019t know what to do. They don\u2019t know what their options are. The only option they\u2019ve ever had is to make the payment. And now they can\u2019t.<\/p>\nSome clients will come in and say, “Should I move out today?” We tell them that there\u2019s no reason to move out today. They\u2019ll just have to start paying rent sooner. We tell them that if this is what it’s going to be, if they are going to have to move, then they can plan when they’re moving. We help them make their own decisions as opposed to feeling like they can’t make any.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/span> In other words, you\u2019re trying to be both a realist and an advocate.\u00a0 You’re saying, “These are the circumstances you\u2019re dealing with, and these are your logical options, and these are the options which most benefit you.”<\/p>\nA:<\/span> That\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing.\u00a0 We\u2019re trying to get them to start making decisions that will help their families.<\/p>\nQ:<\/span> Many of the people you talk to are used to paying their bills on time.\u00a0 Sometimes, you’re telling clients that one option is to stay in the home rent-free during the foreclosure process.\u00a0 How many people have a hard time with that idea?<\/p>\nA:<\/span> Almost all of them think it\u2019s the wrong thing to do. But they also don\u2019t feel they are completely responsible for their situation, because there’s instability in the economy and they’ve lost a job. In a lot of cases, if they can stay in a house through the end of the foreclosure process, then they will be better positioned to start over again. They’ll be able to save for rent later on, when they are no longer in the home.<\/p>\nQ:<\/span> A lot of people wouldn\u2019t have the stomach for what you do.\u00a0 You spend a lot of time talking to people who are in pretty bad situations.<\/p>\nA:<\/span>\u00a0You might be right, but I am excited about doing what I do because I am helping people. Not just families, but lenders, too. The mortgage business has been good for me over my career, and the whole industry is having problems. If I can help someone move on, then I feel I am winning the battle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Each week, Tom Birch spends hours meeting with homeowners who know they’re falling behind.\u00a0 Many of them are beset with worry.\u00a0 At no charge, Birch talks to them about their finances.\u00a0 He gives them handouts with titles like, “What to Do When You Default on Your Mortgage.” Birch worked in the mortgage business for 35 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[40],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3382,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions\/3382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}