Helping Nonprofits Help Borrowers
More than 85 housing counselors took part in a recent training event at Freddie Mac to learn new ways to help families avoid foreclosure. Freddie Mac and the new Capital Area Foreclosure Network sponsored the seminar, bringing together nonprofits and local government representatives from across the DC metro region.
This event is part of Freddie Mac's partnership with the local nonprofit community to build a strong foreclosure prevention network. The network will help nonprofits develop relationships and leverage resources to better serve borrowers.
Housing counselors learned how to work more effectively with servicers from two experts: Jennifer Murphy of the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, a nonprofit created to provide foreclosure prevention assistance in New York City, and Jacqui Cosgrove from Freddie Mac’s Borrower Outreach unit.
Freddie Mac national trainer Wayne Ferguson provided participants with the latest information on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). He helped counselors better understand how to get borrowers into a trial period and successfully complete loan modifications under HAMP.
"The training will help me do my job as a housing counselor better," said Karen Serfis, Executive Director of AHOME, a small nonprofit that provides homeowner education and foreclosure prevention counseling in Arlington, Va. "It gave me new ideas on how to work with servicers and negotiation tips to get loan modifications through the pipeline."
Serfis said the newly created Capital Area Foreclosure Network will be a valuable resource for smaller nonprofits that "don't have the capacity for borrower outreach." Participants emphasized that by working closely together, nonprofits will be able to leverage resources and information to best serve their clients.
Chuck Bean of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington said the training is a preview of the resources the Capital Area Foreclosure Network will bring to our region. The Network, supported by Freddie Mac’s charitable investments, formally launches in April as a partnership with the Nonprofit Roundtable and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Training participants and Network partners include housing counselors and representatives from organizations like Boat People SOS, Legal Services of Northern Virginia, Housing Initiative Partnership, Home Free-USA, the Virginia Housing Development Authority and the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development. Freddie Mac also partners with several of these nonprofits on other borrower outreach and foreclosure prevention efforts. Legal Services of Northern Virginia recently received a Freddie Mac contribution for its Foreclosure Legal Assistance Project, to provide housing counseling as well as legal advice and representation to homeowners. And, Freddie Mac recently partnered with Boat People SOS and Home Free-USA to provide homeowner outreach and counseling, as part of its new nationwide Making Home Affordable borrower outreach initiative.