HOPE for Dallas Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
City of Dallas, Nonprofits and Mortgage Lenders
Team Up to Reduce Foreclosures in Dallas

Dallas (June 7, 2005) – One of the most stressful financial emergencies a person can face is foreclosure on their home. Its impact can be financially and emotionally devastating -- not only for homeowners, but also for families, neighborhoods and communities.

To help alleviate this, the City of Dallas has entered into a partnership with local mortgage lenders, nonprofits and other government agencies to create the Dallas Home Ownership Preservation Enterprise (HOPE). Beginning June 7, Dallas HOPE will launch an information campaign to encourage Dallas residents who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments to contact a toll-free telephone number to receive free foreclosure prevention counseling.

“If you’re having trouble paying your mortgage, please, call 1-888-995-HOPE (4673) to receive free foreclosure counseling,” said Mayor Laura Miller, addressing Dallas residents during a press conference conducted at Dallas City Hall to launch the program. “Do it now. Don’t wait another minute. We may be able to help you stay in your home or at least prevent foreclosure on your property.”

According to Jerry Killingsworth, director of housing for the City of Dallas, the campaign is placing a heavy emphasis on the availability of the free telephone counseling. According to mortgage industry statistics, as many as 50% of homeowners enter the foreclosure process without having spoken directly with their mortgage lender or servicer.

By offering a free telephone counseling through a third party, the partnership believes it will be able to connect with more homeowners. Dallas residents who call for foreclosure assistance will be put into contact with the Credit Counseling Resource Center (CCRC), a program of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (www.hpfonline.org), a Minneapolis-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing foreclosures throughout the United States. The CCRC program is an alliance of three HUD-certified credit counseling agencies (Auriton, Novadebt, or Springboard). When a homeowner calls 1-888-995-HOPE, he or she will receive a free counseling session to address urgent needs concerning the potential or action foreclosure action. Following the counseling session, the homeowner will receive a written action plan that was discussed and agreed upon during the telephone counseling session. In addition, the foreclosure prevention counseling service will, if appropriate, coordinate or facilitate communication between the homeowner and his or her mortgage lender or servicer.

“Early intervention can help keep families in their homes and stabilize our neighborhoods,” Killingsworth adds.

The campaign has initial funding of $100,000 -- $25,000 from the City of Dallas with a $25,000 match from mortgage lenders for a public information campaign, and an additional $50,000 in support from the Homeownership Preservation Foundation to underwrite the costs of foreclosure prevention counseling to provide counseling to Dallas residents at no cost to them. To increase awareness about the availability of the free counseling, the partnership is launching a comprehensive public information campaign that will include the distribution of flyers and brochures to better inform residents about home foreclosure, a city-wide publicity campaign, public service announcements, free educational seminars. In-person, face-to-face foreclosure prevention counseling also will be available through several Dallas-area nonprofits.

Organizations teaming up with the City of Dallas for the Dallas HOPE program include: the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, North Texas Housing Coalition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the Homeownership Preservation Foundation; Dallas-area non-profits Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Dallas, Dallas County Home Loan Counseling Center, Maple Avenue Economic Development Corporation, Operation Relief Community Development Corporation; Dallas-area insurance companies AIG, Residential Insurance Company, and United Guaranty; and Dallas-area mortgage lenders/servicers Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Countrywide Home Loans, Chase (still clarifying if this should be JP Morgan Chase), First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, Guaranty Bank, GMAC-RFC, Homecomings Financial, Inwood National Bank, Option One Mortgage, and Washington Mutual.

The campaign’s partners have set three goals for the next 12-month period:

• Provide basic financial and homeownership education to at least 400 Dallas-area homeowners;
   
• Help at least 200 Dallas homeowners, who are currently delinquent on their mortgage payments or strongly considering defaulting on their mortgage payments, develop and action plan, and;
   
• Help at least 120 Dallas homeowners continue building ownership in their current home.

Reducing the effects of home foreclosure is a critical issue not just for lenders, but for many other stakeholders, including government, business and city residents, according to the Homeownership Preservation Foundation. The foundation recently funded a study conducted by Professor William Apgar, a senior scholar with the Joint Center for Housing Services at Harvard University. This study focused on the impact of home foreclosure to a neighborhood in Chicago. The study determined that a single home foreclosure can cost a large city up to $33,000 in direct costs and reduce the value of surrounding properties by up to $220,000. This study also confirmed that many other stakeholders, including nearby homeowners and small businesses, also suffer financially when nearby homes are foreclosed and that mortgage companies alone do not experience the financial consequences of foreclosure.

In a similar awareness program launched by the City of Chicago about 18 months ago, more than 2,000 homeowners contacted the CCRC to receive free foreclosure prevention counseling. Of the Chicago residents who received counseling through the CCRC, 28 percent avoided foreclosure by bringing their loan current or paying the loan in full. Another 20 percent moved from inactive communication with their mortgage servicer to active communications.

“Every foreclosure creates a ripple effect that impacts the homeowner, their family and the surrounding community,” adds Walt Fricke, director of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation. “It’s important we all recognize, as stakeholders, that whatever we can do to create open communication earlier in the process helps expand the list of options available for a workable solution.”

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Additional media contacts

The following individuals are available for additional comments about the Dallas HOPE program:

Primary contacts:

City of Dallas, Jerry Killingsworth, Director of Housing, 214.670.4028

Homeownership Preservation Foundation, Walt Fricke, President and Executive Director, Homeownership Preservation Foundation, 952.857.6555, walt.fricke@gmacrfc.com

Homecomings Financial, Martha Cox, Manager, Homeownership Preservation Enterprise, 214.874.2735, Martha.cox@homecomings.com

North Texas Housing Coalition, Albert Martin, Executive Director, 214.946.3500, amartin@nthcinc.org

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Michael Backman, Field Office Director, 214.767.8300, michael_b._backman@hud.gov

Consumer Credit Counseling Service-Dallas (CCCS), Bettye Banks, Director of Education, 214.638.2227, bbanks@cccs.net

Dallas County Home Loan Counseling Center, M. Joyce Brown, Housing Officer, 214.819.6060, mjbrown@dallascounty.org

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, PHONE, Alfreda Norman, Community Affairs Officer, alfreda.norman@dal.frb.org

Fannie Mae, Rhonda Bowens-Rainey, Senior Business Manager, Housing and Community Development, 972.773.7448, rhonda_j_bowens@fanniemae.com

Secondary contacts:

Countrywide Home Loans, Kim Lott, Senior Vice President, 972.608.6221, kim_lott@countrywide.com

Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Amy Cobb, Community Involvement Specialist, 817.505.4982, acobb@ameriquest.com

Maple Avenue Economic Development Corp., Roel Ornelas, Vice President, Marketing and Community Affairs, 214.431.0006, arornelas@aol.com

Option One Mortgage, Larry Gilmore, 202.349.3785, larry.gilmore@oomc.com

AIG, United Guaranty, Residential Insurance Company, Bonnie Wolferd, Director, Emerging Markets Central Region, 713.819.3156, wolferba@ugcorp.com

Chase Home Finance, Bonnie Boards, V.P., Homeownership Preservation Officer, 317.236.5700, bonnie_s_boards@bankone.com

First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, Sharon Schultz, 214.441.4179, sschultz@firsthorizon.com

Guaranty Bank, George Aguirre, Community Development Specialist, 214.360.1969, george.aguirre@guarantygroup.com

Washington Mutual, Maria Gonzales, Vice President, Community Development Officer, 214.706.9707, maria.gonzales@wamu.net

Inwood National Bank, Michon Fulgham, Director of Community Development, 214.351.7239, michon1a@aol.com

The Enterprise Foundation, Sue Carlisle, Single Family Director 100 North Central Expressway, Suite 1299 Dallas, TX 75204 phone 214.651.7789 ext 109 scarlisle@enterprisefoundation.org
Wells Fargo, Lisa Doiron Texas Regional Corporate Communications Manager phone 210.856.8864 lisa.b.doiron@wellsfargo.com

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