Are Government Programs Available for Stopping the Foreclosure Process?

It is difficult to watch the news on television without hearing comments regarding the foreclosure crisis currently going on in the US and especially in Florida.  Clark & Washington has done considerable research regarding foreclosure statistics about the state of Florida and the entire nation as well.  Here are the statistics that our research has revealed:

• roughly 1 out of every 200 homes in the US will go into foreclosure this year
• 43% of households in America earn less than what they spend annually
• in the event of a job loss, 42% of American families have insufficient resources and could not last 3 months
• job losses and medical crises are typically the events which trigger the foreclosure process
• where pending foreclosures are concerned, the state of Florida ranks in the top 10
• Florida has one of the highest rates of foreclosures per resident

Suffice it to say, these statistics are extremely unsettling, especially for Florida homeowners.  Fortunately, the US Government has instituted a number of programs in order to help individuals avoid the foreclosure process.  Due to the fact that banks, lenders, and mortgage companies are usually reluctant where refinancing and restructuring loans is concerned, these programs have experienced limited success because they rely on the actions taken by those financial institutions.  In so many words, they have not shown much enthusiasm towards these government programs. Unfortunately, these programs have done very little to decrease the number of foreclosures according to NACBA (National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys) statistics.  There are a number of informative pages and resources for debt counseling available at HUD’s website (http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/topics/avoiding_foreclosure).  The experiences we have encountered here at Clark & Washington show that these US Government programs just don’t work. The biggest issue, from our standpoint, is the time frames involved when seeking help with any of these federal programs.  It can take up to 6 months for the US Government to consider a loan as being eligible for any modification.  Of course, while you are wading through that bureaucratic red tape, your mortgage loan continues to grow more delinquent. Unfortunately, if the terms of the modification or the modification in itself are not favorable in nature, you may not have any other options other than filing an emergency Chapter 13.  If this is the circumstances where you are concerned, it would benefit you to contact Clark & Washington for assistance so that we can stop the foreclosure process.