Foreclosure counseling and assistance from National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling.

NeighborWorks America offers a wide variety of mortgage and foreclosure assistance to homeowners who are experiencing problems paying their mortgages. Homeowners can receive foreclosure prevention counseling as a result of the NFMC assistance program and government funding. The program provides families much needed guidance, information, and assistance with addressing their risk of foreclosures. They do their best to help families move toward finding a solution to a foreclosure filing and stop the foreclosure process.

They recently issued a report which shed some good news on the housing crisis. The report found that over 90 percent of homeowners who are receiving foreclosure counseling were still in their homes as of February 2009. However, unfortunately about 18 percent of those families had a foreclosure process that did start. Six percent of those families who were counseled had a foreclosure completed on their residence and another 3 percent had their mortgage paid off from a short sale, refinance, or deed-in-lieu on their home. Importantly, the report filed noted that lower-income families and homeowners are likely to have a higher rate of foreclosures starting on their homes than higher-income homeowners, which should not be surprising. Learn how to find a counselor. More.

One of the key factors in determining whether a foreclosure has will start is when financially distressed homeowners seek foreclosure counseling services from a professional. Homeowners who do go ahead and find assistance, from programs like the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program, before they run into trouble, and if they seek help before their mortgage is delinquent will come out better than those who seek foreclosure assistance at a later date. According to data from the NeighborWorks America NFMC report, almost 30 percent of homeowners whose mortgages payments were from three to four months late before seeking a counselor either had a foreclosure started or completed. Compare that the those who waited even longer for aid. Over 60 percent of clients whose mortgage was more than four months late before asking for help had a foreclosure started or completed.

Never hesitate to ask for foreclosure help, as statistics show that the earlier you seek aid, the better chances you have to save your home.

What is NeighborWorks America?
They are an organization that provides housing assistance and creates opportunities for thousands of people to strengthen their communities and improve their lives by providing access to shelter and homeownership. They also provide affordable and safe rental housing. Since 1990, they nave assisted over 1.2 million lower  to moderate income individuals and families with their housing needs. In addition, NeighborWorks America is the country’s top trainer of affordable housing and community development  professionals.

How do they provide help?
The success is the direct result of the support of the NeighborWorks network, which is a group of companies and organization  that number more than 230 community development organizations. They have offices and provide assistance in more than 4,400 cities, suburban areas, as well as rural communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. They provide many different options and resources to struggling homeowners, including mediation, mortgage and housing counseling, and other advice. They spend time with a homeowner reviewing all options that may be available to them.