The Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) has launched a campaign designed to get homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments, or worried about facing foreclosure, to contact them as soon as possible for help.
The campaign, which includes informational posters throughout the region, brochures at public locations and through major employers, and public information meetings, is designed to increase public awareness of the existence of the AEOA’s mortgage counseling services. The AEOA’s free mortgage counseling service was created in 1997 and has saved hundreds of homeowners in the Arrowhead Region from foreclosure.
“The AEOA’s mortgage counseling service exists because of the recognition that homes and homeowners are one of the region’s most valuable resources— home ownership is critical to the stability of the region’s families and communities,” said Leah Hall, AEOA Housing Project Manager.
Carol Gehrke, AEOA foreclosure prevention specialist, said that while much of Minnesota has recovered from the housing and financial crisis, regions of the state, including the Arrowhead, continue to struggle economically. Those struggles commonly impact the ability of homeowners to make mortgage payments. Fall and winter are particularly challenging times for some homeowners due to increased heating costs.
Unlike for-profit, mortgage-counseling firms, the AEOA’s mortgage counseling is a free service for homeowners living in the Arrowhead Region. The AEOA also works to protect homeowners from unscrupulous mortgage counseling firms, often teaming with the Minnesota attorney general to shut down mortgage counselors who sometimes prey on the residents of the Arrowhead Region.
The AEOA provides clients with one-on-one counseling either over the telephone or in person to help them through the foreclosure process. They provide guidance to households that are seeking refinancing from their lender, or to help negotiate with the lender if they are moving toward foreclosure. Tools the AEOA uses include loan modification, streamline modification, payment plans, short sales, partial claims and selling the home in order to retain capital.
“While sometimes foreclosure cannot be prevented, we have found that the sooner a homeowner gets help in the foreclosure process, the more likely they are to successfully save their home or some of their home equity,” said Gehrke. “Homeowners need to know that if they wait, it may be too late.”
AEOA mortgage counseling services can be reached by calling Carol Gehrke at 1-800-662-5711 EXT 6826 or by going online at www.aeoa.org.
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