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CITY NEWS

City Launches New |Workshops for Residents: Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Prevention Strategies

Janet Anderson
Contributor
February 2008

In January, the City launched new predatory lending prevention and foreclosure prevention strategies to assist Emeryville residents and employees.

The City will hold its first Predatory Lending Prevention and Foreclosure Prevention Workshop on Saturday, March 22nd from 9 a.m. - 12 noon at the Emeryville Senior Center, 4321 Salem Street. The workshop will provide information on predatory lending, consumer rights, housing resources, the foreclosure process, foreclosure prevention, including budgeting, refinancing, deed in lieu-of foreclosures, short sales, and loan modifications or forebearances, bankruptcies, and “foreclosure rescue” scams.

Workshop participants include representatives from Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, from California Reinvestment Coalition, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Division, and the Unity Council Homeownership Center, a local housing counseling agency. Mortgage lending agents will also be available to assist with loan workouts or refinancing.

The City has also begun tracking Emeryville property owners who are in default on their mortgages. The Emeryville City Attorney has sent a letter to these property owners who are in default on their mortgages to provide information on available resources and to warn these property owners about foreclosure prevention scams.

The City is also offering free housing counseling to Emeryville residents who are participants in a City homebuyer or rehabilitation loan program or who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments or are in default on their first mortgages. This offer is also available to those who own Below-Market-Rate units, even if they have not received City financing. The counseling is available through the Unity Council in Oakland and Community Housing Development Corporation of North Richmond.

Additional strategies also include updating the City’s website to provide information and referrals to approved housing counseling agencies, distributing information throughout the City, at City Hall, and working with local jurisdictions, the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, and local mortgage lenders to conduct community outreach and education.

Additional information. Additional information is available on the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) website at www.hud.org or on the State of California website at www.yourhome.org or California Reinvestment Coalition’s website at www.calreinvest.org. Contact the City’s Homebuyer Program Coordinator, Janet Anderson, at 510-596-4316 for more information.

Janet Anderson is the Homebuyer Program Coordinator with the City of Emeryville. You can contact her at 510-596-4316.