With all the bad news surrounding the increasing amount of foreclosures in North Carolina and around the nation, sometimes it is beneficial to hear some good news. Here’s a summary of some of the recent news articles on foreclosures. The Charlotte Business Journal recently published an article stating that NC residential foreclosures in October are up 40 percent from a year ago. About 4,818 NC homes were in the process of foreclosure in October which is up 13% from September. The article also talks about how the numbers could have been even higher if not for the freeze on residential foreclosures due to the robo-signing controversy.
Now let’s hear a little good news. WCNC.com published a more uplifting article. A woman on the verge of losing her home got another chance due to a little help from the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). The woman purchased the house and then fell on some hard times, with health problems and decreased hours at her work. She tried to negotiate with her bank, but instead the bank increased her payments and then a few months later started the foreclosure process. NACA began work on a loan modification with the woman. With NACA’s help, the bank agreed not to sell the house and re-modified her loan agreement with a lower fixed rate.
How about another one? In an article published by the Charlotte Observer, it describes how the Charlotte School of Law helped local homeowners. In 2007, the Charlotte Observer ran a series about Beazer Homes who had violated federal lending rules and through their aggressive sales tactics contributed to a high foreclosure rate in many of the Beazer Home developments in the Charlotte area. In 2009, the United States Attorney’s office charged Beazer Homes with mortgage and accounting fraud. Beazer Homes accepted responsibility for the charges and agreed to pay restitutions to the victims. The article goes on to talk about how the Charlotte School of Law students and faculty have been working for free to fill out the restitution fund claims. Since April they have helped 416 households and families have reported receiving restitution checks of up to $12,000. There may be thousands more families to help and the law school plans to continue their aid until the 2014 deadline.
During this Thanksgiving season, we should be thankful for all the agencies and programs across the state that are helping homeowners during this foreclosure crisis.
Click on the word "article" in each paragraph to read the full articles.
