If mortgage problems keep you up at night, starting this weekend you'll have a place to go and get some relief.
The Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America’s “Save the Dream Tour” is coming back to Atlanta to help distressed homeowners. Its counselors will be available 24 hours a day through the five-day visit.
When the Boston-based non-profit was here in August, thousands of people showed up on the last day and many were not able to be seen before the event ended. Keeping the operation going for 24 hours should help alleviate that problem, said Darren Duarte, NACA spokesman.
“There are so many people still in financial distress here and we knew after that last day we had to come back,” he said. “So hopefully this time we can help those we didn’t get to and a lot more.”
Duarte said bank representatives likely will not be available around the clock, but the financial counselors – the first step in the modification process – will be.
For five days, beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, NACA will offer counseling and provide opportunities for homeowners to have their mortgages modified. Homeowners will have a chance to meet directly with many of the nation’s major lenders. Along with extended hours, the tour has added investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to its list of those who can help restructure mortgages.
This time around the group is partnering with the city of Atlanta and by Mayor Kasim Reed, who hosted a kickoff for the event Monday.
Reed, a native of Atlanta, said he has been dismayed at Atlanta’s housing and homeownership situation. He said that Georgia is one of the three states with the most home foreclosures, and Atlantans are among the hardest hit.
“I do not want my fellow Atlantans to lose what matters most to them ... what they have worked hardest on – their homes,” Reed said. “I encourage at-risk homeowners to attend this event.”
During the kickoff, half-dozen homeowners, including Marcia Hargis, gave testimony about how much money they have saved with the program.
In 2007, Hargis purchased her first home -- a ranch condo on Cascade Road -- for $217,000. She had an $1,800-a-month mortgage with a 17.4 percent interest rate.
But within a year, her mother got sick and Hargis, who is a car dealer, started losing business because of the economic downturn.
In 2008, she attended a series of meetings and seminars sponsored by NACA and got her mortgage cut in half to $928 a month with a 4.2 percent interest rate.
“This is important, because in the height of the mortgage boom, many people were taken advantage of,” Hargis said. “I tell people to just go. Check out what you are working with. See how it can be modified. It is ridiculous that people are losing their homes.”
Event preview
NACA’s Save the Dream Atlanta event to help homeowners modify their mortgages will run for 24 hours a day beginning at 9 a.m. Friday and ending at midnight June 15 at the Georgia World Congress Center. Participants are encouraged to preregister at www.naca.com or by calling 1-888-499-6222.
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