Alleviating the Impact of Michigan Foreclosure Homes Crisis

Time icon September 30th, 2009 by Autor wsummers

Michigan foreclosure homes are spreading across the state at a rapid rate. A staggering number of homeowners are going into foreclosures that brought alarm to state and local officials. In the four counties in Detroit metropolitan area, over 100,000 homeowners were delinquent or in some stage of foreclosures in 2008.

For 2009, the projected number of homeowners who will go into foreclosure is expected to be over 150,000. Industry experts said that foreclosure negatively affects communities and devalue properties. It makes neighborhoods vulnerable to crime and blight. It causes business failures, job loss and homelessness.

Because of the growing Michigan foreclosures homes, state and local officials and nonprofit organizations mobilized to address the problem and alleviate its impact on homeowners and neighborhoods. They believed that homeowners can avoid foreclosure or lessen its negative effects through proper counseling.

However, industry experts said that many distressed homeowners are not aware about the free resources that are already available that can help them avoid foreclosures.

Several local organizations, such as Lighthouse Oakland, 2-1-1 and United Way, have partnered with Michigan Radio and Detroit Public Television to present public town meetings to raise awareness among Detroit metropolitan area residents about the free resources that will help them avoid foreclosures.

The series of town meetings will help homeowners who are at risk of losing their houses to foreclosures, who are in some stage of foreclosure proceedings or have been forced out of their houses due to foreclosures.

During the meetings, homeowners will have a chance to talk with counselors, lenders and local experts. The foreclosure crisis town hall meeting is scheduled on October 6 at the Westland’s William P. Faust Public Library. The presenters will be Wayne County Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program counselor Debbie Hostos and director Jamele Hage.

A similar town hall meeting will be held at Bloomfield Township Public Library on October 27. Lighthouse Oakland’s Financial Education and Counseling manager Greg Sterns will be the presenter.

The town meetings in Michigan are part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s national initiative to alleviate and prevent the foreclosure problem. The initiative aims to use the public media to increase public awareness and gather community resources to prevent the further spread of foreclosures in the country.

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