Housing Advocacy Groups, Subprime Mortgage Servicer Discuss Foreclosures
October 7, 2009 (FinancialWire) — Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) convened more than 30 representatives of grassroots and national housing advocacy organizations to share success stories, new ideas and insights related to preventing foreclosures and helping homeowners. The roundtable discussion was geared, in part, to provide additional context for an expected report by a Congressional Oversight Panel on the effectiveness of foreclosure mitigation efforts.
During the roundtable, which included remarks from human rights activist and author Kerry Kennedy, the community groups and Ocwen representatives agreed upon a number of imperatives and recommendations. They include:
* Working closely with the Obama administration to arrive at more
flexible guidelines so more distressed homeowners qualify for
mortgage modifications under the Home Affordable Modification
Programl
* Developing a national awareness and information campaign
regarding HAMP to increase homeowner outreach.
* Focusing more intensely on homeowners who are under-employed or
unemployed and thus need state or federal assistance to qualify
for mortgage modifications.
* Greater collaboration between servicers and grassroots groups in
providing real-time solutions for homeowners - including being
more proactive about helping borrowers early on, before they
face the prospect of foreclosure.
* Increasing government budget allocations for community and
grassroots organizations’ engagement in housing and financial
counseling with homeowners - and streamlining the procedures for
reimbursement for the effort.
* Increasing the use of Web technology to reach out to homeowners
and link them with community groups that can offer housing
counseling and other supportive social services.
* Combating consumer and Fair Housing violations and other scams
perpetrated on borrowers by groups trying to lure distressed
homeowners into illegal and damaging home foreclosure prevention
programs.
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