Foreclosure help still available

Mortgage lenders such as GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are delaying foreclosure on thousands of homes while they review the cases. But Lake County officials urge local homeowners in danger of foreclosure not to get a false sense of security and to continue to seek help.
Lake County Clerk of Courts Maureen G. Kelly said Monday that her office received the first batch of requests last week by mortgage lenders who asked for a stay in court foreclosure proceedings and to put the cases on the inactive docket.
Kelly said she notified the county Common Pleas Court judges after eight requests came in through the mail.
"We are just beginning to see these now, and none of those applications have been granted as of (Monday) morning," Kelly said.
County Commissioner Daniel P. Troy and Patricia A. Kidd, executive director of the Fair Housing Resource Center in Painesville, on Monday led an informal meeting of the Lake County Foreclosure Prevention Task Force.
The group meets occasionally to discuss current foreclosure issues and to talk about ways to help people who are in need. Among those in attendance were county officials, city leaders and people in the housing and title industry.
Sheriff Daniel A. Dunlap and Kidd said people shouldn't automatically believe they will be saved by the recent decisions by these major mortgage lenders.
"Don't assume you're going to be rescued by this litigation," said Dunlap, who added his office hasn't seen a decrease in the number of foreclosures that progress toward sheriff sales.
Dunlap, Kidd and others in attendance urged people to continue to seek help if they have difficulty paying their mortgages or are already in foreclosure proceedings.

The Fair Housing Resource Center can provide people with mortgage counseling and assist people to apply for the $570 million federally funded state program called Restoring Stability: A Save The Dream Ohio Initiative, designed to help an estimated 46,000 people who are at high risk of default or foreclosure.
The initiative has four programs to help homeowners who have a temporary or permanent reduction in income.
n The Rescue Payment Assistance Program will provide a payment to the mortgage lender to help delinquent borrowers become current on their first mortgage.
n Partial Mortgage Payment Assistance Program will provide up to 15 months of assistance for unemployed homeowners while they search for a job or participate in job training.
n Modification Assistance with Principal Reduction Program will provide an incentive payment matched by an investor to reduce the mortgage principal balance so a loan modification may be possible.
n Transition Assistance Program will provide an incident payment to the mortgage lender and homeowner to assist with short-sale or deed-in-lieu agreements to help homeowners exit their homes gracefully.
Homeowners may submit applications online or by working with housing counseling agencies like the Fair Housing Resource Center to help them qualify for assistance.
To learn more, call the Fair Housing Resource Center at 440-392-0147 or the Save the Dream Ohio Hotline at 888-404-4674 or visit www.savethedream.ohio.gov.