Mortgage Literacy: Know Your Loan

Over the next 6 months, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is launching a national consumer education campaign urging homeowners to seek free, HUD-approved housing counseling advice.

The campaign is a call to action for homeowners and target communities and demographic groups that are most at-risk of losing their home to foreclosure.

HUD’s financial literacy campaign builds on the Department’s continuing commitment to support its 2,600 housing counseling agencies across the country. In 2008, demand for HUD-approved counseling increased significantly.

Meanwhile, the number of foreclosure rescue scams has also increased in response to the nation’s housing crisis.

“This campaign is a call to action for families at risk of losing their homes,” said Preston. “We want people to pick up the phone and call a HUD-approved housing counseling agency before they reach a point of no return.

“Keeping your home may be as easy as dialing (877) HUD-1515.”

Many troubled homeowners seek help late in their financial crisis, which limits their loan modification options. HUD’s campaign targets homeowners who are three-to-six months from defaulting on their mortgage, facing a reset on their adjustable-rate mortgage, or are experiencing a family crisis such as unemployment or skyrocketing health care costs in 2009.

A recent HUD study noted a 55 percent increase in the number of clients receiving foreclosure prevention counseling between 2006 and 2007. Of the approximately 136,000 families that completed this counseling during 2007, 45 percent were able to remain in their homes while 14 percent ultimately lost their home through foreclosure.