With foreclosure rates throughout the city and specifically in southeast Queens at record numbers, City Comptroller Bill Thompson recently launched a foreclosure prevention hotline.
The hotline allows city residents to call to receive advice about their individual cases as well as referrals to non-profit organizations, which may be able to help with information that is more specific.
“These experts can discuss options so that you may be able to manage your mortgage payments and not lose your home,” Thompson said. “My office’s Community Action Center has resolved thousands of problems confronting New Yorkers, and we can help you, too.”
Data from the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) shows that the city is on pace to hit 15,000 foreclosure filings this year - more than twice as many as the total two years ago.
Trends show that subprime loans, which lenders write for people with a poor credit history and often contain high interest rates that cause borrowers to default, are becoming more prevalent in the southeast Queens community.
“In neighborhoods across New York City sub-prime loans have cost families their homes and - in many cases - wiped out their life savings,” said Bertha Lewis, Executive Director at New York Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
In addition, the city’s homeownership rate - 33 percent - ranks it at the bottom of all major cities throughout the country, according to New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Furthermore, those numbers decrease to 28 and 16 percent amongst black and Hispanic city residents, respectively.
“The dream of homeownership is one that we all should embrace and support, and yet we must do all that we can to ensure that New Yorkers enter into loan agreements that they can afford,” Thompson said.
To speak to a staff member at the Foreclosure Helpline call 212-669-4600.
City’s foreclosure prevention hotline
By Pete Davis
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