City gets 275G to help homeowners
Hailing it as a model for the rest of the country, Mayor Nutter said yesterday that the city had raised $275,000 in private funds to aid the city's mortgage-foreclosure- prevention program.
Hailing it as a model for the rest of the country, Mayor Nutter said yesterday that the city had raised $275,000 in private funds to aid the city's mortgage-foreclosure- prevention program.
The program provides homeowners in danger of foreclosure with free legal counseling and the opportunity to sit down with their lender in court to modify their loan. Since its kick-off in June, 600 homes have been saved from foreclosure and about 1,400 are in the process of rescue.
"Other cities and states across America are asking about this program," Nutter said.
Nutter said that there were 5,193 foreclosure filings in 2008 - up 45 percent over 2007. But this program, he said, is the best way to push back.
"I want to make a continued appeal to our private sector," Nutter said. "This fiscal crisis probably isn't going away for a while."
Nutter said that the city put up $5.3 million in funding - some of which came from federal sources - to pay for a hot line, housing counselors and outreach to homeowners for the 2009 fiscal year, which began last July 1. Volunteer lawyers provide the legal services.
But demand has exceeded the funding. Officials said that the additional $275,000 will fund some more publicity and help keep the program up and running. Donors include the PNC Foundation, Wachovia Bank, William Penn Foundation and Citi Office of Homeowner-ship Preservation.
Anita Santos-Singh, executive director of Philadelphia Legal Assistance, a nonprofit agency catering to low-income residents, said that the funds will help keep the hot line in place. She said that they don't anticipate hiring more operators with the private money, although they plan to add a few people to the staff with state aid.
Santos-Singh said that they have been taking about 600 calls a month on average and expect volume to remain about the same. If demand spikes, the program may lean more heavily on volunteers who also help out with the hot line, she said.
Nutter said that he hopes that the federal government will help fund the effort next fiscal year.
"This is the kind of work the federal government really should be involved in," Nutter said. "On the one hand we're talking about billions of dollars going to the financial industry to shore them up. I think having a few dollars left for individuals, to shore up homeowners in their homes, is equally important to the American economy."
Common Pleas Judge Annette Rizzo, who runs the city's foreclosure-prevention court, said that the program was vital to the city.
"It is extraordinary times and it requires extraordinary action," Rizzo said. "We have demonstrated here in Philadelphia that we care."
If you need to talk with a housing counselor call 215-334- HOME. *
