Councilmember Leroy Comrie, along with members of his committee, held a forum last week in Jamaica to update city residents on the impact of the current foreclosure crises in Queens and advise them on the help available to them.
In an uncharacteristic move, the City Council held the forum at the York College Campus on Thursday, June 18 to highlight the number of foreclosure cases in Queens.
“The foreclosure crisis has hit Southeast Queens the hardest,” said Comrie. “Sixty percent of all residents to face foreclosure in New York City are in Queens.”
Non-profit mortgage counselors, agencies, and attorneys for foreclosure preventions gathered at the hearing to speak about their efforts to help the community through these hard times – help that is available for free. Representatives from groups like The Legal Aid Society and the Department Housing Preservation and Development presented plans to help individuals keep their homes.
By dialing 3-1-1, homeowners that face foreclosure will be redirected to a foreclosure counselor from one of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN) partnership programs, including a counselor from the Office of Financial Empowerment, “in order to get help and advisement for free,” said Lacey Clarke, a personal empowerment coach.
Clarke said that an overwhelming percentage of neighborhoods of color face the biggest foreclosure rates in the city with the biggest impact being felt in Jamaica and Queens Village.
Through their efforts CNYCN, which coordinates and provides services to city residents at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, provides help to individuals in one on one counseling sessions to determine who would be eligible for funding and how CNYCN could best assist them to keep their home.
The first Financial Empowerment Center in Queens has now been opened in Jamaica, according to Clarke.
Representatives at the forum also noted that banks have not been doing their part to help the community and instead wait and hope the economy and job market will improve. In the meanwhile individuals continue to fall into the traps of fake organizations such as “Chase Settlement offices,” which tricks individuals into believing they are affiliated with Chase Bank.
The central advice at the forum was to seek help – free help through these organizations. Individuals who sit back and do not seek help, either due to fear or because they find the process to be overwhelming, can find a solution to foreclosure by dialing 3-1-1.
A former senior nurse who fell victim to foreclosure in Queens and suffered a loss of $4,000 and the threat of losing her home finally decided to get help. She’s now encourages others to do the same.
