Indiana State Programme To Help Foreclosure Victims

November 9th, 2007

As foreclosures cross record marks across the country, Indiana ranks third in the race. Alarmed the state has come forward with a helping hand to stem the tide. Winter is nigh and holiday bells are ringing – hardly the setting for home lovers to be thrown out of their houses by the curse of foreclosures. The Indiana Housing Community Development Authority spokesperson Sherry Seiwert sighs that foreclosures are never welcome but the timing for this phenomenal increase could not be worse during this season for celebrations.

Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network is a new operation launched by the state aiming to quickly turn the course of foreclosures. Lt. Governor Becky Skillman opines that it is a fact that the advice of a trusted counselor goes a long way to tackle the problem. These genuine friends are not far away – just a phone call or a mouse click distant. It is just that the traumatized victims are unaware of it. There is a toll free hot line, which is confidential and open round the week for 12 hours each day. Questions are asked over the phone. They will guide the caller to the nearest qualified capable counselor. The important factor is time. Longer the delay – less the number of alternatives. Usually borrowers for obvious reasons are reluctant to directly contact the lenders. A free proactive counselor will make a great difference.

The website too enables confidential contact. Questions and answers are thrown back and forth online. The counselor is most probably just a stone’s throw away from aggrieved person. The scheme seems to working as already hundreds of calls are pouring in. Soon billboards and radio announcements will reach out to more sufferers. The programme is ambitious about making its presence felt.

Foreclosures are the inevitable fallouts from the sub-prime mortgage scheme gone awry. The accusing finger is pointing to predatory lenders who lured in unwary borrowers with teaser rates and high promises. But when the honeymoon period expired and interest rates began to rise one by one millions of houses began to foreclose right across the country. The crisis is now affecting not only the hapless borrowers but also the lenders, banks and mortgage giants. The socio-economic scene has become grim and the government has no alternative but to make noises. Unfortunately nothing can be legally done for those already boiling in the cauldron. Here lies the crux of the problem.

Via