The good act started about one year previously. Today it has become a national movement to help the needy battle foreclosures. In November Marilyn Mock, a resident of Rockwall together with her son attended a foreclosure auction and was touched by a scene. One Tracy Orr was crying piteously because of the impending sale of her home.

Mock operates a rock yard. She borrowed money against her truck for dumping to purchase the house. The sight of Orr moved her very much and she gave the house to Orr following all procedures. It was arranged on a do-able terms that amounted to the house being $50,000 less that the loan Orr owed to her lenders.

The media soon trace Mock and she appeared on a television programme being the special guest of Oprah Winfrey.

Mock opines that she does not want to stop here but is eager to go ahead. She set up Foreclosure Angel Foundation to help the struggling home owners’ right across the nation. The media exposure has brought in dollars running into thousands in the form of donations. Many others like Orr have benefited from it

For Mock at the age of 51 it is something to crow about. She was brought up in an Indiana farm and is engaged in adopting animals. Surrounding her are a possum, a pair of dogs and a pig. Waving her arms she shows her office at Classic Rock situated on Highway 66. She said, “This is me – me and my pig and a possum in the drawer over there.”

Mock has been handling more than 5,000 applications. She has been lucky to save nearly 40 homes across USA. She explained, “We try to find the people that are really in need, not the ones that have just overspent; the ones that really have nowhere to turn. And there are so many of them.”

One such person is Terry Stammer, resident of Goldboro who spends her nights on a recliner and lets out bedrooms on rent to make the dollar run. A car accident left her incapable of work. She got into a fix when one of the tenants cheated her causing her to lag behind on her mortgage payments. She was planning to sell off her electric cart to make up the house payments when Mock located her and rushed in to her rescue. Stammer said, “She made me realize there are people out there who are willing to help. We stay in touch. She lets me know that I’m not alone.”

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The times are indeed tough. As more and more people lose jobs, they falter on mortgage payments. Banks take over these properties. As a result, foreclosures have become very common. Now the situation has spawned fraudulent companies that promise relief to the harassed homeowners. They assure assistance in averting foreclosures. Or if a person is unable to pay medical bill, these companies immediately come for help. They assure lower mortgage payments as well.

Kristen and Joseph Noyes was one such couple who got enthused by the claims of a fraud company. They had hoped that they would not lose their ranch-style home in Coventry. However, their home was foreclosed upon.

It may be noted that in Connecticut foreclosures are at an all-time high. People are really desperate and these companies are quick to step in to take advantage of the situation. They charge a hefty fee for the assistance but disappear soon after.

State officials have warned people time and gain but to no avail. They now expect the problem to worsen as more and more people default on the adjustable mortgage. It may be noted that ARM allows a person to pay less in the initial period but after five years, the amount balloons and gets added to the loan amount. This leaves more homeowners at risk.

The Federal and state governments had come up with various home rescue programs to help harassed homeowners but the lenders are somehow sitting on the proposals. As banks are delaying the process of loan modification, fly-by-night operators take advantage of the situation. For the panic-stricken homeowners, they seem a blessing. It is only much later that the homeowners realize they have been taken for a ride.

Now Connecticut authorities will come up with a law that will ban companies from demanding payments upfront for help in mortgage issues. This law seems to have come in a little late for the Noyes. The couple had already made a payment of $1,500 to a company based in New Jersey. The couple had failed to make mortgage payments after Joseph lost work. The family income had really plunged to half even though Kristen still worked in a day care centre.

The duo increasingly became frustrated with the lender. They had repeatedly got in touch with the lenders but there was no response from them. That’s when she came to know about Davis Foreclosure Assistance and got duped in the process.

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Foreclosures have impacted in big way on religions life – positive and negative. In some areas congregations and schools have shut down following the exodus of huge swaths of citizens in search of livelihood.

But in other places there has been a renewal of hope with neighbours and friends giving support to the sufferers during these troubled days. The houses of worship like the churches have become the support centres for those without jobs. Some have increased their donations. At one place (Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, California) the members were so generous in their response that in that fiscal years instead of an apprehended deficit the budget ended up with a surplus.

Bryan Wilkins the business director of the church said, “We’re all a little dumbfounded. We were hearing lots of stories about people being laid off, struggling financially and losing homes. It’s truly amazing.”

The Jewish community has been badly impacted with the shutting down of many Jewish schools. These institutions are pivotal to the continuation of their faith and practices with the baton being handed over from one generation to another Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University is a historian and has authored the book “American Judaism”. He observed that enrolment to these schools have tumbled in many urban centres leaving little opportunity for young Jews living in these regions to be acquainted with the religion of their forefathers.

The financial situation prevents many families today to send their children to religious day schools. There is also the fear that even with the improvement of finances the parents will not enroll them again – not wanting to disrupt their studies in the new schools.

In one group of Jewish day schools enrollment has gone down by 7% in the current academic year said Marc Kramer of RAVSAK. Some schools lost nearly 30% of their pupils. There are many other Jewish day schools numbering hundreds affiliated with Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements that are in the grips of the financial famine.

Kramer thinks 2009-20010 can be marked as a “make or break” year for Jewish educational institutions because of extra harm done by the donors who have suffered from the fraud of Bernard Madoff. Broadly speaking the Jewish groups have lost a quarter of their total wealth. Kramer did not mince words when he said, “It’s going to be painful. There will be some losses.”

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The real estate crisis in the US has worsened. As unemployment peaks, people are faltering on mortgage payments. Subsequently foreclosures have become common. The foreclosed properties are now the happy hunting ground of the vandals and drug peddlers. Some of them are even carrying on their illegal practices in these houses that have been lying vacant for a long time. With walls crumbling and rooms ripped apart, these homes are indeed in a very sorry state. The gardens are overgrown with weeds as well.

Now a recent incident has come to light that has drawn the attention of many. A senior official of the lending agency, Wells Fargo, has been throwing lavish parties in one of the foreclosed properties. The senior vice president of the company is responsible for the bank’s foreclosed homes.

This person had thrown a lavish bash at a Malibu beach house in California. Priced at $12 million, the owners of the house had to give up the property to satisfy the ballooning debt amount. Wells Fargo had declined to showcase the house to buyers. This had perplexed the real estate developers.

It may be pointed out that the previous owners had been victims of a scheme. Neighbours of the sprawling modern house bordering the Pacific, said the Wells Fargo employee Cheronda Guyton, was quite extravagant in his entertainment. Some of the guests arrived at the party by yacht. Guyton was not available for comment and the bank said a proper investigation would be conducted into the allegation.

Wells Fargo has been the subject of a controversy. There are allegations that the lender has not been able to modify loans of borrowers. It may be noted here that the Federal government has come up with Making Homes Affordable program. As a part of this program, homeowners are being giving assistance in down payment and their loans are being modified as well. However, the program has started off on a slow pitch and lenders like Wells Fargo has not been able to alter loans of consumers on the fast track.

Normally, borrowers are placed on a three-month trial during which if they are able to successfully pay the revised mortgage amount then that is fixed for the lender. The Treasury has observed that Wells Fargo has started handling the cases of only 11 per cent of the eligible homeowners who are two months behind their scheduled mortgage payment. That is surely much below the national figures.

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Realtors are now coming forward to help prevent foreclosures. Two of them are Taylor Grant and Jimmy Stewart who walk through the neighbourhood of Waterglen knocking on doors. They are certified specialists in troubled properties. At least once per week they comb through the worst hit localities and spread the news about the impact of foreclosures on individuals and the community.

The residents are informed that a foreclosure has the power to bring down the value of those properties that are not in trouble. They also say that although they are helpless in cases where the homes are already lost, they can help those who are on the brink of trouble. The word is then passed around from mouth to mouth on their request.

Stewart explained, “Seven out of 10 people who are in trouble don’t reach out to anyone, either through fear, embarrassment or lack of knowledge.”

There are many other real estate firms who are being proactive to assist troubled homeowners through campaigns and educative classes.

Sean Dougherty representing Re/Max Alliance says that some who has a certificate to handle distressed property has a much wider role to play than just selling the unit. He is expected to find out the options before the borrower who is at risk. He is organizing a class for those homeowners facing financial trouble.

The success rates can be high as 50%. Referring to three of his clients he said that among them one returned to the bank the keys on the understanding known as ‘deed-in-lieu-of’, one sold the property in a short-sale and the third one shrugged and surrendered to foreclosure.

These certified experts are not ordinary brokers. To get the certificate they have undergone training to known about the system explained Clint Skutchan of Fort Collins Board of Realtors. He explained, “The relevance of that designation, especially now with the National Association of Realtors focus on it and the national focus on it, does mean a lot, and (clients) will get better service out of those folks.”

Stewart and Taylor comment that this public awareness plan is a tactical move in business together with letting the distress homeowners become aware of the fact that help is ready at hand if they know where to look for the keys to unlock the blocked door.

Nearly one out of ten residential house owners having mortgages are lagging behind in payments. Stewart and Taylor visit those areas that are heavily marked by the curse.

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Foreclosures are compelling city residents to take up either farming or full fledged agriculture to fight hard economic days. In Detroit the people have turned to agriculture to utilize huge swaths of land lying vacant.

In Detroit 138 square miles comprises of “enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco” according to Bloomberg. In trying to make nearly 6 acres of vacant land more productive out of a calculated 17,000, have been converted into mini-farms producing food.

Detroit is the 11th largest city on the map of USA. It has been contracting sharply with a heavy population decline because of the doldrums in the automobile sector. People have been exiting to find jobs elsewhere. Detroit is faced with a deficit of $200 million and has the highest rate of poverty, unemployment and foreclosures in the country. There are not many options left before it.

The city fathers have at last realized that the renewal efforts have not proved to be fruitful. They are now focusing on the shrinking size of Detroit with about 55,000 vacant lots lying around. On 25th November the city has sought $47 million from Washington, after passing the Neighborhood Stabilization Plan to demolish the deserted houses and develop the city.

Urban Farming is a non-profit body that is based in Detroit. It was initiated by Taja Sevelle, pop singer, in 2005 aiming to clear the land, arrange for topsoil and fertilizer with the hope that the residents would get drawn to the idea. The harvested crops are either sold or given to the soup kitchens so that some value was realized from the land. Although the idea was somewhat new it was not comprehensive enough to salvage the city. Russ Ravery a realtor admitted, “I hate to say it … but I wouldn’t put my money in Detroit.”

Other cities however have caught on to the idea, battered as they are by increasing cost of essentials. There are also concerns about the environment. Urban tracts are being used for farming purposes. It is being done in New York, Los Angeles and Minneapolis amongst other cities. In Portland and Seattle some of the officials together with the residents are trying to list the available vacant lands lying below power cables or in hidden unnoticed corners.

Richard Conlin, councilman of Seattle said, “To me, that’s something we should be doing—the idea of culling all of our surplus land and seeing if there are places we could open for P-patches or lease for agricultural use.”

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Facing a foreclosure or a threat of foreclosure itself could prove to be devastating. Even the banks that lends for its victims don’t like to go to the extent of foreclosure in the initial stages itself.

Since foreclosure proceedings are a process which is never meant to be the bank’s core job, they too find it difficult to handle such confiscated properties.

So, seeking a solution to prevent such foreclosures will prove to be a viable one. There are many things or many ways available to help you out from foreclosures.

The first thing that you could possibly do is to contact your lender. The Lender will have many options to offer you than what you can think of.

They can help you get out of your miseries sooner than anyone else. You can ask for temporary deferred payment option and keep up to your loan payments later when you improve financially or for a refinance.

Obama’s Share in helping the Foreclosure Victims:

Many hope that Obama’s moratorium is going to help save the foreclosure victims. Obama’s administration is quickly working on the solutions to help people stay in their homes.

They are working on 3 solutions namely consumer lending, examining the current regulations and making necessary changes and finally restarting the entire business, if needed.

Obama’s loan workout plans tries to delay mortgage payments of the debtors and help them temporarily from the payment burdens in a financial crisis. The time that they get in this helps them recover from the crisis and support themselves to regain their financial status.

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Recently a lot of initiative had been taken to make the property owners steer clear of foreclosures. For a time this helped but the last survey indicates a rise in the number of defaulters again. The County Registrar of Deeds, John Buckley, remarked that the fall in the number of foreclosures was seen in November last but it started rising again in March.

The dip in the foreclosed houses was by forty one percent, which means just sixty five houses as compared to one hundred and eleven, this time last year. John Buckley feels that the banks are responsible for this. According to him the banks are not following the federal programmes aimed at helping people retain their property.

In Plymouth County last year, when the number of foreclosures reached one thousand eight hindered and sixty eight, there was still scope to improve the situation with further negotiations between the lenders and the owners.

The new Act of 2009, Helping Families Save Their Homes, gave the property owners a ninety day extended period of relaxation to cope with the failing financial situation. Form May onwards as the law came into effect, the owners were in a better position and things were looking up for a while. The real estate owner in Middleboro, Debbie Blaise, feels that in the coming months the number of foreclosed properties will increase.

A new respite has been arranged for the troubled house owners. The short sale comes in very helpful to them. The owner sells his property off at a low price a little less than the borrowed amount. This amount is paid to the lender who is willing to suffer the small loss and return the property to its owner. This is done to have a clean credit image so that the next purchase of property is not difficult.

According to Blaise all those wiling to sell off their property which is due to be foreclosed in November this year can enjoy a tax break of eight thousand dollars.

The Neighborhood Housing Services offers free advice to the troubled house owners. This private agency works for the federal affordable loan programmes. Having counseled about a thousand owners they have achieved a success rate of nearly sixty five percent. The banks are now willing to go for negotiations. The problem is actually created by the renowned finance houses and brokers. The solution can be provided easily if the owners report their problem earlier to the agency.

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According to a recent study foreclosures are the cause of a significant increase in cases of mental depression. Studies conducted at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine highlighted the mental state of 250 homeowners in Philadelphia who are suffering from the trauma of foreclosures.

Of those scrutinized half showed symptoms of depression and 37% fell under the category of suffering from major depression. The latter group suffered from loss of sleep. They were troubled by despair and a feeling of inadequacy. This led to irritability, lack of concentration triggering off suicidal thoughts.

About 60% of the surveyed said that they either skipped or delayed taking food because of lack of funds. Nearly 48% of those suffering foreclosure said they did not buy many of the medicines prescribed by the doctor because of expenses. In comparison the proportion was 15% for those who were not in foreclosure.

In their findings the authors said this report (details can be seen on the online version of the American Journal of Public Health) should make the policy makers sit up to the realities and take necessary steps with the health department regarding the deadly fall out from the foreclosure crisis.

Dr. Craig Pollack who led the team of researchers said, “The foreclosure crisis is also a health crisis. We need to do more to ensure that if people lose their homes, they don’t also lose their health.” He worked on the research while an internist at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at Pennsylvania.

Monetary hardships accompanying foreclosures may lead to the person caught in the net to avoid spending on health care unless absolutely necessary. Thus they pick and choose when to take medical help and when to remain buried under the sand like an ostrich. If this continues for a long time, then it will seriously tell on the health. Foreclosures and its related troubles do not get over quickly.

The pressure of suffering foreclosure may increase behaviour that undermine health, said Pollack. For instance 65% of the smokers surveyed have increased puffing at their cigarettes more than before since getting the foreclosure notice.

The study also noted that compared to the general public those undergoing foreclosure are more likely not be insured – the proportion being 22% to 8%. However health problems are similar in the case of both groups – insured and uninsured.

It was also observed that for about 9% of those studied, a family medical condition was the main reason for the foreclosure. A quarter said they were being chased by big amounts of due medical bills.

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The scenario is definitely an optimistic one. Foreclosures have dropped in Massachusetts. The number of foreclosures took a plunge in Massachusetts in May. This has happened for the second month in a row, according to the Warren group.

In May, 582 foreclosure filings were recorded. This is a 58.6 percent decline from what was recorded in May 2008 (1,405) and a drop of 24.3 per cent from what was registered in April 2008. Statewide foreclosure filings have plunged by 26.3 per cent — 4,110 – as compared to the corresponding period last year (5,576).

Timothy M. Warren Jr., Warren Group’s CEO said this is encouraging. At last foreclosures had hit a low since 2007. Warren said that the primary reason for this is lenders have realized that foreclosures are costly and should be avoided at all cost. But there is still concern about rising unemployment. Unless people have jobs, they will not be able to make mortgage payments, and that will definitely accelerate foreclosures.

Some also attribute this to a decision of Massachusetts Land Court to invalidate two foreclosures as the lenders could not show proof of their title. Other lenders are now wary and they have put a stop to sale of foreclosed homes. Real estate agent Kristen Casucci said this has put a stop to most foreclosures. Even title companies are hesitant to insure titles because of the pending law suits.

This has become a vicious cycle what with lenders unable to provide title to purchased properties. That means purchasers won’t be able to avail of finance. Even lenders are unable to get buyers for those properties.

Foreclosure filings may have dropped but petitions have gone up. A petition is the first stage in the foreclosure process. In May, 2,329 petitions were filed, which is almost six times the number that was filed last year. This sharp rise can be attributed to the right-to-cure law that came into effect in May. This law made it mandatory for lenders to give 90 days to borrowers to catch up on the missed loan payments. This also led to a temporary drop in foreclosures.

Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, said that although foreclosures have dropped, the crisis is far from being over. The economy has not recovered. Jobs have not been created as a result of which homeowners are not being able to pay the mortgage payments. This is definitely not the end to the foreclosure problem.

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