April 21, 2008 10:46 AM
Gov. Ritter: A penpal that can help homeowners avoid foreclosure
Colorado homeowners in neighborhoods hammered by foreclosures will soon receive postcards from Gov. Bill Ritter that could help save their homes.
Declaring this Foreclosure Prevention Awareness Week, Ritter today said he's sending the postcards touting the success of a free housing counseling hotline to seven neighborhood ZIP codes -- from Denver, Aurora and Greeley to Colorado Springs -- that have a high foreclosure rate, but aren't using the hotline enough.
"Coloradans need to be aware that, for many people at risk of losing their homes, foreclosures can be prevented," Ritter said a Capitol press conference with Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colorado, and state lawmakers. "They need to get to the right place for help - the Colorado Foreclosure Prevention Hotline."
The hotline, which connects homeowners with a dozen nonprofit housing counseling agencies, helped 5,600 Colorado families keep their homes from its creation in October 2006 to the end of 2007. All Colordans can use the hotline: 1-877-601-HOPE.
The homeowner education campaign is being expanded with $1.5 million in federal funding that Salazar championed in Congress.
The ZIP codes targeted in the postcard campaign: Denver 80239, Denver 80204, Aurora 80017, Aurora 80010, Greeley 80631, Parker 80134, and Colorado Springs 80916.
The stakes are high.
A state survey of 12 Front Range counties during the 18 weeks between November 2007 and April 4 found 11,633 properties facing the first step toward foreclosure. The outstanding loan totals at risk: $2.25 billion.
Economists have projected 50,000 more homes will enter foreclosure from 2007 through the end of this year, Salazar stressed. As the impact of foreclosures and abandoned homes ripples across communities, economists also project a significant drop in value for 750,000 Colorado homes.
But, Salazar stressed that the success of foreclosure counseling can help Coloradans avoid the worst impact.
The message for Coloradans facing foreclosure: "Help is here," Salazar said. "When they call the foreclosure hotline what they will find is an 80 percent success rate in the renegotiation of (their mortgage) contract."
"That means that people are able to stay in their homes. That means that the lenders are able to keep themselves from losing the money that they would otherwise lose when they go through foreclosure proceedings," he said.
--Alan Gathright
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