Last month, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan unveiled two new Public Service Announcements aimed at encouraging delinquent mortgage borrowers to get help by contacting their lenders or a trusted housing counselor in order to avoid foreclosure.

“As these ads so powerfully underscore, doing nothing is the worst thing a delinquent borrower can do,” Dugan said at a symposium on preventing foreclosures. “The sooner borrowers reach out for help, the more options they have, and the more likely foreclosure may be avoided.”

Dugan noted that in half of all foreclosures, lenders say borrowers did not make contact with them. Yet, more than one-third of those who reach out for assistance are successful in finding alternatives to foreclosure.

“All of this means that many of the 1.26 million borrowers who entered foreclosure last year might have been helped if they had acted earlier to contact their lender, or consult a trusted housing counselor,” said Dugan.

Dugan encourages homeowners experiencing financial difficulties to call 1-888-995-HOPE, a toll-free hotline staffed by 85 qualified housing counselors from agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs.

“We have learned that it is not enough to achieve homeownership,” said Dugan. “We - all of us operating in our respective roles - have to work hard to sustain homeownership.”

Financial Freedom can help you avoid foreclosure and get your finances on track through PayAccel, the 9Steps2Wealth program, and the PayAccel HELOC (Mortgage Eliminator).

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 4:29 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.