Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, Are They Doing Enough?

December 2nd, 2008 by Reed Allmand

On November 28, 2008 the Dallas Federal Reserve featured information about the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force which was setup to provide homeowners with a national and bilingual hotline (1-888-995-HOPE) to provide advice on how to deter foreclosure. The hotline is available around the clock 24/7 and is free. The foreclosure prevention taskforce is comprised of representative from over 50 state, local and federal organizations. The foreclosure taskforce states that it is NOT designed to provide callers with grant or rescue funds, specific loan modification products or general information about how or where to qualify for a rate freeze; but will help "establish communication with a loan providers," "help create a homeowner budget" and provide the homeowner with "credit counseling" resources.

This seems like a good resource for homeowners facing foreclosure who are not knowledgeable about the processes available to them for preventing foreclosure. But today’s economic environment is NOT filled with those types of homeowners the majority of the time. What we are facing today is an environment where homeowners facing foreclosure simply do not make enough money to cover their basic needs and this includes shelter. These homeowners are facing foreclosure because of joblessness, toxic mortgages and life emergencies and they are often times facing imminent foreclosure on their homes and time is of the essence. If this foreclosure prevention taskforce is to be fully effective, they need to at least provide information about how to get "rescue funds, loan modification, rate freezes" and YES how to use bankruptcy to stop foreclosure.