In an effort to help New Yorkers take advantage of free foreclosure prevention services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a new public campaign Thursday morning, June 11, at the Legal Aid Society in Kew Gardens.
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, NY Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) President Pat Boone, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter and Queens City Councilmember Thomas White Jr. joined Bloomberg to promote the program, which calls for New Yorkers to get the free legal assistance, mortgage counseling and education services available to them through the Center for NYC Neighborhoods.
“When homes go into foreclosure, everyone’s affected,” Bloomberg said.
The new campaign urges New Yorkers to call 3-1-1 to begin receiving the confidential help. Then, they will be transferred to call centers where they will be connected to free counseling services in their neighborhood.
In order to promote the program, the city will place advertisements on the sides of buses, on the subway and distribute materials in English and Spanish to churches, stores and homes in the affected areas, including areas with high concentrations of foreclosures like Jamaica. Materials in other languages, such as French and Creole, will likely be developed as well, according to the mayor and Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero.
Cestero said that many people are “stuck in limbo, knowing they are in danger of being foreclosed upon, but not knowing what action the lender is going to take.”
Nutter and Boone discussed the success of a program in Philadelphia that requires mandatory settlement conferences between lenders and homeowners – a concept that will soon take place locally.
“The Philadelphia program is based on the idea that borrowers and lenders need the right incentives to come to the table and make a deal that keeps the property out of foreclosure,” Boone said.
The program also ensures homeowner notifications about mediation are understandable, gives representatives of lenders in settlement meetings the power to modify loans and links distressed homeowners with housing counselors.
“This is gonna go a long way towards helping a lot of individuals saving their homes,” said White. A representative from White’s office said there were 1,881 foreclosure filings in 2008 in his district.
