By Elizabeth Razzi
Sunday, December 9, 2007
From Faith Etheridge's tidy office in Frederick, you can see the national foreclosure crisis unfold. And, sometimes, you can see a particular foreclosure stopped.
Etheridge works with troubled borrowers who ask for help from the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Services. Last week, she allowed me to sit in one of those sessions.
The Arizona homeowner, whose permission I had to listen in on the call and whose identity I promised to keep confidential, doesn't have an exotic mortgage. It's a 30-year, fixed-rate loan through the Federal Housing Administration on a modest home. She has a government job, but her husband has been out of work since late October. "They told him that due to the housing industry they had to lay him off," the woman told Etheridge. "I've just been finding it difficult to catch up on my mortgage payment."
She's already incurred a late fee in November, and it's going to be another couple of weeks before she makes the December payment. Together, that will be $120 wasted on penalties. That's how a budget problem can balloon into a lost home. Late fees will kick in if you don't pay by mid-month. Once a new month starts, the loan will officially be delinquent. It becomes all too easy to start missing payments entirely.
President Bush announced a plan Thursday that would allow some adjustable-rate borrowers to ask for a five-year interest-rate freeze. That plan may help settle financial markets, but it won't help homeowners who are still trying to come up with the mortgage payment that was due Dec. 1. In fact, those who have missed payments won't be eligible for that relief.
However, some struggling homeowners in a number of states, including Maryland and Virginia, may be eligible for a cash grant of up to $5,000 that can help them avoid foreclosure. The PHASES program, which stands for Preserving Homeownership and Savings Education Strategy, has no income restriction and is not limited any particular lender. The first step toward getting such a grant is a conversation with someone like Etheridge.
Etheridge asked the Arizona borrower if she was behind on any credit cards. "No, I'm not behind on those yet," the woman said. "One of my main goals is not to get behind on them."
When Etheridge asked what other financial goals the woman had, the woman told her she wants to save about two months' worth of expenses. "Absolutely, that's an excellent goal," Etheridge said. Her tone remained quiet, professional and positive throughout the conversation.
After reciting some boilerplate language about confidentiality and the need to talk to a lawyer for advice about things such as bankruptcy, Etheridge began building a picture of the woman's finances. First, Etheridge asked about income. Including her husband's unemployment benefits, which started just a few weeks ago, the woman said they're bringing in a net income of $2,693 per month.
Then came a far longer series of questions about expenses. The biggest bill, the mortgage, costs $857 per month. The payment includes property taxes and homeowners insurance. They don't pay a homeowners association fee.
One by one, Etheridge asked for monthly spending estimates. Car payment, workday lunches, oil changes, medical co-pays, cellphones, pet care, haircuts and even hair-styling products. The two women matter-of-factly made a budget. Etheridge probed for areas where expenses might be cut. Did she plan family meals before grocery shopping? Did she shop with a list? Did the family eat out often?
Etheridge asked the woman to estimate the value of her home and car. Then she asked the woman's permission to pull a credit report, without charge.
The report showed several debts, including a $61 balance that had recently been paid off. There were two store credit cards with balances. The biggest debt, aside from the mortgage, was a personal loan for about $13,000.
Etheridge tallied up the monthly income and obligations and concluded that with unemployment benefits, the couple are bringing in $170 more each month than they pay out on bills. "Now that you're getting the unemployment, you're sort of back on track," Etheridge told her.
Etheridge told the woman she may qualify for the grant program, and how to apply online. If she receives a grant, which would be paid directly to her creditors, she would be expected to follow up with quarterly counseling sessions for a year.
Etheridge also gave the woman some homework. "I definitely, definitely, definitely want you to pull your credit report," she said. She told her to tell her mortgage servicer about the layoff. "Let them know what's going on; keep them updated. Also write down the day and time of that call, and who you talked to. You never know if the information might be valuable to you a month from now."
Etheridge explained some other options that would be available should the woman get more seriously behind on her mortgage. Because she has an FHA mortgage, she is eligible for a special FHA program that allows borrowers to take a second mortgage for their missed payments. That debt incurs no interest and does not have to be paid back until they sell the home. "That's something to think about if your husband doesn't find work or his unemployment runs out," Etheridge said.
Not all sessions are as calm as this one was. Some borrowers get emotional; some get angry. Some resist advice that they don't want to hear, such as that they need to ask a spouse to take a paying job. "You make suggestions; they have to be willing to do it," she said.
Just in the past few weeks, she's noticed a big increase in the number of clients who work in the real estate brokerage or lending business. "Sometimes I tell them, 'You should sell your home and downsize,' but they say that in the spring the market's going to change," Etheridge said. "They've been living on credit cards."
The PHASES program is available to borrowers who seek credit counseling from the counseling service or its parent organization, Money Management International. The money is available to people who are in temporary financial trouble because of problems such as unemployment, medical expenses or divorce. A realistic review of their budget must show that they're running in the black, even if just barely. The idea is that this one-time gift will be enough to get them back on track.
The cash comes from a $1 million grant given in July by HSBC North America, one of the biggest banking companies issuing consumer credit cards and other forms of consumer credit, including subprime mortgages.
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Homeowners living in the following states are eligible for the PHASES program : Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia .
To request counseling from Consumer Credit Counseling Services/Money Management International, call 866-889-9347, toll-free.
Homeowners worried about foreclosure should call the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at 888-995-HOPE.
E-mail Elizabeth Razzi atrazzie@washpost.com.
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