‘FYI Foreclosure’ Founded to Educate Families on How to Fight Foreclosure

March 29, 2012 - PRLog -- Bensalem, PA, March 29, 2012.  Because of the foreclosure crisis, millions of Americans have been evicted from their homes and, if banks are not restrained, millions more could suffer the same fate. But this year Janene Chandler founded FYI Foreclosure in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, an organization that educates people about foreclosure, empowering them to save or reclaim their homes.
 
FYI Foreclosure helps, for example, the family that’s trying hold onto their row house to battle the too-big-to-fail banks that brought the U.S. economy to the brink of collapse in 2008.  One powerful weapon FYI Foreclosure offers is education--on the foreclosure process, distress selling tools, foreclosure government programs and more.  
Foreclosure is a growing problem. According to RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures, 804,000 homes foreclosed in 2011 and they anticipate that number will reach 1 million in 2012. How did we reach this point? In the heady days that led to the housing bubble in 2008, banks could not issue mortgages fast enough.  They flooded the market with enticing, often adjustable, rates.  By luring buyers with low initial payments, banks convinced many to stretch beyond their means and become ‘house poor’.  Then the banks sliced, diced and bundled the mortgages into an unrecognizable, risky cocktail of investments, convinced agencies such as Moody’s to stamp these bundles with a triple A seal of approval, and sold them to unsuspecting investors. The banks’ antics were a prelude to the Great Recession which led to even more homeowners defaulting as the U.S. economy shed more than 8 million jobs and real estate values tanked.

“When homeowners are unable to meet their mortgage obligations, it’s often hard to think straight given the stressful situation, and the information they need to understand their options was until recently not readily available,” says Ms. Chandler. “That’s why I founded FYI Foreclosure—to help educate homeowners in financial distress so they can find the best possible outcome for a difficult situation.”  

For example, one option is a short sale, where the proceeds of a home sale fall short of the outstanding home loan, but the lender agrees to this route instead of foreclosing.  Another choice, that can be used when someone is suffering from a short-term financial issue, such as a temporary layoff, is forbearance, where the lender agrees to delay a foreclosure.  Also, while most are aware of the possibility of negotiating with a lender for a loan modification, there is not as much knowledge about securitization audits, a tool that can give homeowners more leverage to reach a deal with their lender. It determines if the loan has been securitized and if there are any irregularities in how it has been handled. Other options include bankruptcy, mortgage assumption, where the homeowner sells the home to someone who assumes responsibility for the mortgage, and equity sharing, where an investor buys a share of the home.

The FYI Foreclosure team is available to speak on ‘How to Fight Foreclosure’ at churches and community organizations that want to help their members and revitalize their neighborhoods.  

For more information about FYI Foreclosure or to schedule a ‘How to Fight Foreclosure’ presentation for your organization, call (215) 352-6542 or visit http://www.fyiforeclosureonline.com.

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