Group helps avert foreclosure

Her problem is a common one seen by the staff at Resources for Residents and Communities, a nonprofit organization based in Reynoldstown that helps homeowners fight foreclosures and prospective buyers find affordable housing.

RRC will hold a Home Buyer Education Workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Lang Carson Community Center.

“When you miss that first payment, get to a foreclosure or homeownership counselor,” said Young Hughley Jr., CEO at RRC.

“We have people referred to us by banks or come in on their own when ‘life happens.’ That’s what we call it. It could be a work situation. It could be an adjustable rate mortgage, where a rate has kicked in so now you’re over your head.”

Redmond’s case includes all of the above. RRC has been working to help her keep her home since fall 2008.

In November, Redmond testified before a congressional subcommittee at the Georgia State Capitol on how her payments drastically increased when she learned that she had an adjustable rate mortgage two years after closing on what she thought was a fixed rate mortgage.

Then the company that brokered the loan was sued for operating in Georgia without a license. During this time, Redmond and her husband lost their jobs and divorced.

“RRC has been a tremendous help. They are my advocate and have taken the load off of me in just talking with the lenders for hours every day and faxing 60-plus pages of work,” said Redmond, 36.

The nonprofit works with residents in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Henry, Cobb and Rockdale counties.

Although it is busy these days with foreclosure clients, RRC also focuses on community-building and outreach as well as affordable housing.

“We tell people that when you are buying, don’t buy more house than you can afford,” Hughley said.

Lakesiya Cofield took RRC’s home buyer class in April 2007 and moved into her Palmetto home in September 2008.

“I can’t count the times that I met with [homeownership center manager] Tia McCoy to go over my budget and expenses,” Cofield said. “She referred me to a good lender at Bank of America. I had also done a lot on my own, like paying off my credit card debt. But I learned what steps to take in buying a home. And I took the class not knowing it would help me with down-payment assistance.”

Cofield, 33, received $5,000 from the Georgia Dream Homeownership Program, which helps eligible borrowers purchase foreclosed properties.

“I got a really good deal, and it’s something that I can afford. It was a foreclosure and there were things I had to fix up, but the house is practically new,” said Cofield, who works in DeKalb County Court Services.

Funding from a variety of resources keeps RRC going in this economic climate, Hughley said. The organization is helped by United Way of Atlanta, NeighborWorks America, Wachovia, Chase, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and individual donors.

“Today the biggest problem is maintaining funding so that we can continue to do our work. And the second [problem] would be around the foreclosures and really getting timely workouts for our clients,” he said.

Even Wayne Dowdy, Redmond’s RRC housing counselor, can grow frustrated with the process.

“We got her a repayment plan with the mortgage company. Then they sold the mortgage to another company and we had to start all over again. We will send the final paper work in today,” Dowdy said last week.

If all goes in her favor, Redmond still wonders if she will be able to afford the payments. The former accountant for the Cartoon Network said she earns $8 an hour teaching at a day-care center.

“To be honest,” she said, “it has stressed me to the point where I’ve said, ‘You know Lord, I’m OK with whatever happens,’ but you can’t say that I didn’t go down without a fight.”