DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 11:18 a.m. April 17, 2009
3,200 homeowners seek mortgage help at Atlanta event
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tammy Calloway, 46, was a latecomer to homeownership, having bought her first house less than two years ago. This week she was at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta trying to fend off foreclosure.
She was not alone. More than 3,200 homeowners behind on their mortgage payments sought help at the two-day event, sponsored by the HOPE NOW Alliance, a national group of loan servicers, investors and counselors formed in 2007 to prevent foreclosures.
KEVIN DUFFY / kduffy@ajc.com
Tammy Calloway (left) was facing foreclosure on her DeKalb County home, but worked out a deal to reduce her payments. Also shown are Keri Hinn, who is married to Calloway’s nephew, and Hinn’s son, Danial Meeks.
After losing her job as a restaurant manager and suffering a stroke that left one arm immobilized, Calloway fell four months behind on her payments to National City Mortgage. She was told if she did not work with the company on a new payment plan, foreclosure would begin April 30. Mortgage companies temporarily halted foreclosures to study the Obama housing-rescue plan, but that’s ending.
“I was scared. I didn’t want to come down here,” Calloway said. But she made the trip anyway because what scared her more was the thought of losing her brick ranch in DeKalb County.
The workshop provided a glimpse of just how pervasive delinquent home loans are. HOPE NOW members sent thousands of letters to struggling homeowners within 35 to 50 miles of Atlanta, alerting them to the event’s free help. But only 12 percent of the homeowners were expected to respond, according to Eric Selk, HOPE NOW project manager.
Many borrowers fear their loan servicers or worry they’ll be conned. Selk said “non-contact borrowers,” those who have ignored loan-payment warnings, use the workshop to finally confront their debt problems and work on solutions.
HOPE NOW members are eager to devise easier payment plans because “you’re looking at a $50,000 loss every time a home is lost,” Selk said. At the GWCC, about 20 loan servicing companies met with borrowers to go over expenses and income. The alliance says a record 55 percent of examined loans — 134,000 — were modified in February.
Gina Bruce, president of the Haven Crest homeowners association in Snellville, talked to a housing counselor at the event. Bruce was there because both she and her father are behind on their loans, and her subdivision has seen eight foreclosures in two years.
Haven Crest home values have plunged from the mid $500,000s to the high $300,000s, she said. Bruce obtained a loan that was cheap for three years, then became expensive. She was looking for a fixed-rate loan that carries a lower interest rate — “a normal mortgage that’s escrowed,” Bruce said.
Most of the loan-help meetings took 20 minutes or so. Calloway’s lasted longer, but in the end it was worth it. National City Mortgage agreed to halve her monthly payment while extending the life of the loan.
“They’re talking about reducing my payment so I owe only $409 a month,” she said. “Whew!”
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