Released: August 25, 2011

Consumer Action offers guide to foreclosure assistance programs

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Consumer Action today released a free resource guide to help struggling homeowners at all stages in the foreclosure process.

Housing Help: Consumer Action’s Foreclosure Prevention Guide lists the variety of government and private programs and websites where homeowners can learn if they are eligible for help in saving their homes from foreclosure. The free guide, which can be downloaded from Consumer Action’s website, describes each program’s features, explains who is eligible for assistance, and lists contact information for the programs.

Families across the country remain in fear of losing their homes. Estimates are that 11 million homeowners are still at risk as the foreclosure crisis enters its fifth year. For those who may not know where to turn in a time of crisis, Consumer Action’s one-stop resource guide is a compendium of up-to-date foreclosure prevention information.

“There are many efforts underway, at varying levels of effectiveness, to help homeowners who are at risk of losing their homes. But there are few places to find the information under one roof. We hope that this guide will help make the long, difficult process of saving your home just a little bit easier,” said Ruth Susswein, Consumer Action’s deputy director, national priorities.

Click here to access the free guide.

The free resource guide is Consumer Action’s most recent effort to provide practical help to homeowners who are seeking ways to avoid losing their homes. Consumers will find information for dozens of programs, including:

• The federal government’s recent Emergency Homeowner Loan program (EHLP), and substantially similar state programs, that provide forgivable loans of up to $50,000 to unemployed homeowners to help them stave off foreclosure. Some programs listed are time sensitive, so affected homeowners should review the guide promptly.
• A program for unemployed homeowners who have Federal Housing Authority (FHA) insured mortgages, that offers an opportunity to postpone mortgage payments under a recent FHA initiative to extend forbearance periods to 12 months.

About Consumer Action

Consumer Action empowers low to moderate income and limited-English-speaking consumers nationwide to financially prosper through education and advocacy.

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