Government Assistance To Aid Foreclosures In The Real Estate Market

Freddie Mac, one of the country’s largest investors in residential mortgages, recently announced that it would be giving $10.5 million in grants to housing counseling groups for outreach programs. Although the company itself has done much to help distressed borrowers rework their loans, the grants will allow other organizations join Freddie Mac in slowly yet surely resolving issues in the mortgage crisis. These groups will be educating those facing mortgage troubles on foreclosure prevention efforts.

How Freddie Mac Assistance Will Aid Foreclosures

The Freddie Mac grants are good news for nonprofit organizations, which will use the money to train staff, pay expenses and support outreach campaigns to borrowers who are having trouble coming up with the monthly payment. Subprime borrowers are the focus, along with others who are defaulting on their loans. The organizations were selected based on how well they could educate and counsel borrowers about foreclosure options, such as loan workouts.

Who Will Help Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure?

More than $6 million of the funds will go to the Hope Now Alliance, which will use it for counseling and day-to-day operations. Other organizations expecting to receive grants include NeighborWorks America, Enterprise Community Partners, the Center for Responsible Lending, Don’t Borrow Trouble, HomeFree USA, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Urban League, ACORN and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America.

How Government Assistance Will Help The Real Estate Market

According to CEO and Freddie Mac Chairman Richard F. Syron, the challenges in the housing market today are far too complex and deep for any one group to resolve. “By putting another piece of that plan into place, today’s announcement underscores how Freddie Mac’s mission to expand homeownership includes helping delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure whenever possible.”

Freddie Mac’s efforts to help borrowers stay in their homes include mortgage workouts to avoid foreclosure, which saved nearly 50,000 families from losing their homes last year. The company works out around 1,000 loans per week, with a 90 percent success rate to keep families in their homes.