The Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force, Office of the State Bank Commissioner, and Delaware State Housing Authority recently announced that statewide housing workshops offered last month connected more than 200 homeowners with on-site mortgage counseling and government services. They also announced additional housing workshops in July and beyond.
Following the success of the June events, additional housing workshops will be held this month and beyond to help homeowners who are worried about missing a mortgage payment, are facing foreclosure, or suspect a foreclosure scam.
The New Castle County workshop will be Wednesday, July 15, from 4 to 8 p.m., at 408 E. 8th St., Wilmington, with presentations at 4, 5:30 and 7 p.m.
During each workshop, State employees and counselors from HUD-approved Delaware housing agencies will lead informational presentations and will be available to meet with individuals one-on-one to provide details about the Delaware Mortgage Assistance Program (DEMAP), mortgage refinancing options, foreclosure and foreclosure rescue scams.
The workshop represents a partial list of housing events statewide. For a complete list of additional Delaware housing events, including housing counselor seminars, visit the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Foreclosure Help website at www.deforeclosurehelp.org.
Last month, foreclosure filings statewide broke the monthly record set earlier this year, totaling 590 in June, compared with 283 in June 2008. For the first six months of 2009 foreclosure filings jumped 41 percent from last year, to 2,900, versus 2,054 at six months in 2008.
Borrowers who have missed mortgage payments and have been named in a foreclosure filing are reminded that mortgage rescue companies and others who offer to help with mortgage modifications are prohibited by law from receiving payment in advance of providing the service. Homeowners facing foreclosure or who suspect foreclosure fraud are encouraged to call the Attorney General's Mortgage Hotline at (800) 220-5424, go to the Attorney General’s Web site at www.attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/mortgageforeclosure, or go to the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Foreclosure Help Web site at www.deforeclosurehelp.org.
These state resources provide a range of information about government programs, access to free HUD-certified housing counseling services, as well as fraud-prevention and reporting tools.
Wilmington, Del. —
