Foreclosure prevention counseling in Texas.
Texas families and individuals can receive foreclosure prevention counseling from non-profits associated with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission database (THHSC). The agency can refer clients to a local program. There is grant money being supplied by the federal government as well as other sources of funding. Some of the resources are also being funded from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program. The goal of the grant money is to delay and hopefully stop the tide of home foreclosures in Texas by offering homeowners with free access to counseling and other assistance.
The funds will be used to build on an existing foreclosure prevention counseling effort that was launched in late 2008. Currently, the THHSC works with many other organizations and charities at the local level by offering referrals to them. These various groups work directly with Texas homeowners who are in or near a foreclosure and together they create either a repayment plan or other modification to their existing mortgage loan.
The counseling and assistance provided is free for homeowners who are in danger of losing their home. It is estimated that this funding will help provide foreclosure counseling for an estimated 1,700 families. Ideally homeowners should contact the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs before they have received a foreclosure notice from their bank.
There are several local counseling providers who are set to receive a share of grant funds and distribute the counseling to homeowners, and they include Credit Coalition, Houston; Frameworks Community Development Corporation, Austin; CCCS of South Texas, Corpus Christi; North Texas Housing Coalition, Dallas; El Paso Community Action Program/Project Bravo, El Paso; New Vision Housing Alliance, Houston; the City of San Antonio; Our Casas Resident Council, San Antonio; and Gulf Coast Community Services Association, Houston. Click here to find a listing of agencies.
There are some conditions to this assistance program. Those families and individuals who are eligible to receive foreclosure intervention counseling must own and they also need to live in one-unit single-family properties with mortgages that are in default or in danger of default. Second homes are not elegible. Counseling and other services that are provided will include a financial analysis of each client’s situation, research to determine the current value of the client’s home, mediation and loan workout solutions, and a review of all other available options, such as a refinancing or restructuring of the mortgage.
The THHSC organization is committed to provide 35 percent of all counseling sessions to low and moderate income and/or minority neighborhoods and 65 percent of counseling sessions will be offered to low income and/or minority homeowners. Call THHSC at 877-541-7905.
The federal government grant is being jointly administered by the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC), a nonprofit organization charted by the Texas Legislature for the promotion affordable housing, as well as the THHSC and the various agencies that are listed above.
Another resource in Texas for foreclosure counseling is the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, or HPF. They offer a hotline for anyone that is struggling, and the phone number is 1-888-995-4673.
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