Once a credit reporting agency is notified of a late or never-made payment, your credit score begins to fall. Your options for negotiating and/or refinancing will lessen with every drop of this score. Therefore, the instant it becomes apparent that a full and timely mortgage installment cannot be paid, the most important first-step is to CONTACT YOUR LENDER!

Unfortunately, this might not be that easy. If the company you are making payments to is a company that is only "servicing" your mortgage and claims that they are therefore unable to renegotiate terms, insist that they put you in touch with the company that actually "owns" your loan. Once you’ve reached your actual lender, insist on speaking with someone who has the authority to work out payment alternatives. Your goal is to explore payment alternatives suited to your particular situation. These alternatives can range from "forbearance," a temporary suspension of payment to restructuring the original terms thereby creating more manageable installments. In large part, the available remedies will be determined by the change in personal circumstances that created the crisis.

For recent buyers who are facing crisis because of increased installments caused by the resetting of the interest rate on an adjustable-rate or interest-only mortgage, there are several programs available. For long-term owners, 62 years-of-age or older who may have built up considerable equity HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program can be particularly suitable. Unfortunately, long-term holders of traditional mortgages who are not 62 have fewer options. Still, equity is convertible. It is therefore very attractive to a particularly despicable group of thieves to use the fear of foreclosure and the promise of rescue to gain control of it. Therefore, it must in all cases be guarded most jealously.

For the few who can prove themselves to have been victims of "predatory lenders" foreclosure can be halted by the courts on that basis. However, this most often requires proof that the lender absolutely failed to disclose terms of the mortgage. Showing that these terms were hidden in fine print or hard-to-understand language is usually not enough to establish predatory lending. Predatory lending complaints can be made to the State Attorney General at 1-212-416-8000. Marketing materials or advertisements that didn’t fully disclose the "risk" inherent in a real-estate transaction constitutes a form of fraud that can be reported to the consumer affairs bureau of the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (383-4357).

For some whose foreclosure woes were caused by a scheduled upward adjustment in an adjustable-rate or interest only-arrangement, the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) has created the Keep the Dream Mortgage Refinancing Program. This program allows for lenders to convert these unconventional mortgages into 30-year or 40-year fixed rate mortgages with more manageable installments. This program is limited to people who: (1) are not currently in foreclosure (2) are 60 days delinquent on mortgage payments (3) property’s current value does not exceed $417,000 (for single family homes - higher for multiple dwellings) and (5) income does not exceed 165% of Area Median ($93,720 in Queens County).

For more Information contact SONYMA at 1-800-382-HOME (4663).

Administered by the Federal Housing Administration the FHASecure program is for people who became delinquent in their mortgage ONLY after their non-FHA adjustable rate mortgage reset to a higher rate. There is no limit on how many payments are in arrears, however, to be eligible mortgage payments must not have gone into arrears until that reset. Additionally, income must be sufficient to support the mortgage payments. Like Keep the Dream, FHASecure provides the means to refinance into a traditional fixed-rate mortgage at lower installments. For more information call 1-800-CALL-FHA (1-800-225-5342).

By far the most popular and safest reverse mortgage is administered by the Federal Housing Administration. It is called the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HCEM). It distinguishes itself by requiring the homeowner to participate in a consumer information session given by an approved counselor in order to be eligible. Since all real-estate transactions are complicated, this feature is critical.

Unlike other home equity loans, a HUD reverse mortgage does not require repayment as long as the home remains the principal residence of the borrower. The loan is repaid when the home is sold. At that point any monies exceeding what is owed to the lender for principal, interest and fees goes to the homeowner or his or her heirs. That is why shopping for the deal that will keep these costs down is so important.

The basic qualifications for HCEMs are:

• 62 years-of-age or older
• own the property (1-4 family homes, Hud-approved condominiums, meet FHA standards)
• property is primary residence
• participation in consumer information session

Foreclosure con-artists take advantage of the fact that delinquent mortgages and pre-foreclosure filings are public record. They use this information to target those communities most severely impacted. They stuff mailboxes and plaster lampposts with their false promises of "rescue," "lower mortgage payments," and "cash for homes!" They rely on the likelihood that folks facing foreclosure will be so intoxicated by the prospect of rescue that sober good judgment will fall by the wayside. DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

While they come in many forms, three types of foreclosure rescue scams predominate.

These paperwork magicians thrive off the hoax that "expertly prepared" paperwork and words they alone know how to whisper into the ears of creditors can hold those creditors at bay. They offer their expert paper preparation and word whispering for a fee. More often than not the stated fee is but one of many that are hidden in the fine print of the contract the homeowner must sign. In that contract, some of these so called "housing assistance companies" have been known to also hide fine-print authorizations for payment of these fees by automatic checking account debit. Practically all of them hide a stipulation that the housing assistance company shall in no event "be responsible for the loss of client’s home," thereby inoculating themselves from any legal action no matter what!

The hoax here lies in the fact that while creditors do re-structure debt and there is assistance to avoid foreclosure, no manner of magically filled out paperwork will qualify you unless you meet certain criteria. If met, the paperwork is usually self-explanatory. No "expert" knowledge is needed to fill it out. Moreover, there is a variety of non-profits and governmental agencies where the relevant information and assistance, if needed, can be obtained for reasonable fees or in some cases free of charge.

To find the HUD-approved counseling agency near you call, HUD at 1-800-569-4287.

The Sign-By-The-Xs rescue scheme often involves fraud and forgery. Proving fraud is, however, quite another story. Most who have fallen prey report that they thought they were signing forms for either a new loan or forms bringing their current mortgage "up to date." Later they find that in the huge packet of papers they signed there was one transferring the title. This was sometimes accomplished by having the title transfer made on a page that seemed to be a continuation of the preceding page. Bottom-line is that in real estate transactions, sign nothing without consulting a knowledgeable source who is not a party to the transaction being anticipated.

Equity strippers are distinguished by their desire to steal the one thing capable of preventing a distressed homeowner from ending up destitute. They play on the fact that equity is usually the product of much sweat, many tears and many years invested in a home. As such, they count on the probability that saving your "home" will be so emotionally appealing that it will conceal the tremendous danger of giving someone control over your equity to do so. This misstep can lead to truly tragic outcomes.

Let us, for instance, say that despite the fact that your house has a current market value of $400,000, circumstances put you in a position where you can no longer make the payments on a mortgage with a balance of $20,000. Your lender forecloses and threatens to take your home. As tragic as this is, with your equity interest in tact, the lender can only take back $20,000 along with whatever penalties and fees that might arise. As such, the forced sale (foreclosure) of your home at market value - yes - would leave you homeless but it would not leave you destitute. That is, unless an equity stripper promises to satisfy your lender and save your home all for simply being put in control of your equity.

Since this control lies in ownership, equity strippers must usually find a way to have the title of the property transferred to them. One of their ploys is to find a straw buyer. A person with an excellent credit score who will present themselves to a lending institution as a person seeking a mortgage to buy your house. This transaction will allegedly pay the people threatening foreclosure. Even better yet, the straw buyer promises to allow you to both stay and regain ownership of your home when circumstances improve.

In many, many cases, however, the terms of the repurchase have proven so extreme that the homeowner has suffered the double indignity of loosing his or her home with no compensation, and then being evicted by the Good Samaritan! In other cases the Good Samaritan has simply sold the home, converting the equity to cash, then disappeared, money in hand, without even paying off the original debt. Either way a victim of equity stripping can be left with a total loss: loss of home and loss of equity.

Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP)
73 Spring Street, Suite 506
New York, NY
(212) 680-5100
http://www.nedap.org/resources/consumer.html

Office of NYC Comptroller Foreclosure Prevention Helpline
(212) 669-4600
Monday-Friday, 9 am-5:00 pm

Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, 33rd AD (D-Cambria Heights) kicked off this year’s Legislators Back-to-School tour at the Math, Science Research and Computers High School at the Andrew Jackson Campus Magnet High Schools. The Assemblywoman met with approximately 50 senior class students taking the Participation in Government Class taught by Mr. Rosenthal, Ms. Morales and Ms. Torres. "I take great pleasure in going to the schools in my district to talk with students. When Ms. Torres contacted me to speak to the government classes at the campus, I could not turn it down. Our young people often have a lot to say, and doing this tour every year is my way of making sure they know that their thoughts and opinions are valued and heard," said Clark.

The students received Assemblywoman Clark with great enthusiasm and learned the value of civic awareness and involvement. After sharing with the students what an average day at the office is like, and how the legislative process works, the Assemblywoman opened the floor to their questions. "Hot topics" included cell phones, school funding, the challenges and benefits of homogenous vs. heterogeneous learning groups, culture-based schools, as well as the significance of student assessment and Regents exams.

Additional schools that participated in Assemblywoman Clark’s Legislators Back-to-School tour include P.S. 136Q-The Roy Wilkins School; I.S. 192Q-The Renaissance Middle School; and concluded back at Campus Magnet with Student Council leadership from all four schools: Humanities and the Arts High School; Law, Government and Community Service High School; Math, Science Research and Technology High School; and Business, Computer Applications and Entrepreneurship High School.

America’s Legislators Back-to-School is an annual, bi-partisan program sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, where legislators across the country meet personally with young students to share ideas, answer questions and impart a greater understanding of what democracy and the legislative process are about.

"The garden, in fact, continues a decades-old heritage of farming since the property is the last remaining piece of a much larger farm still warmly remembered by the long-time residents of Cambria Heights. The property is an important link to a vital part of the history of Queens," said Clark.

Assemblywoman Clark, along with John Fussell and Robert Jurgens, long-time community garden advocates; Joanne Morse of the Trust for Public Land; Richard Hellenbrecht, Chair, Community Board 13; and Carmen Grau, former Chair of the Beautification Committee of the Cambria Heights Civic Association, were acknowledged by members of the community for their service and dedication to the project. Assemblywoman Clark also received special recognition for her leadership in protecting the space for community use by obtaining $60,000 in state funding to purchase the property’s fence and gate through the Community Capital Assistance Program (CCAP).

Assemblywoman Barbara M. Clark’s Track Safety Bill (A. 8945) was signed into law by Governor Spitzer (Chap. 209). "The need for legislation of this nature has been acknowledged for years," said Assemblywoman Clark. "but it was the untimely deaths of two transit workers separated by a mere week--one of whom was my constituent, that begat an urgency to find a solution. I thank my colleagues for supporting this legislation; undoubtedly, this is the first step in securing the safety of transit workers whose service to this city is often overlooked."

The bill creates a Track Safety Task Force within the New York City Transit Authority. The task force, composed of the Transit Authority’s commissioner, president, and president of the Transportation Workers Union, Local 100; and/or each officer’s respective designee, will be required to meet no less than four times a year to evaluate and provide recommendations to existing standards and safety procedures, which includes the authority’s internal on-track safety program. The law also requires the task force to submit regular reports (one of which is an annual inspection of the Transit Authority’s compliance with its own internal safety procedures) to the governor and leaders of both houses in the State Legislature.

At the conclusion of the legislative session, The Center for Women in Government and Civil Society at the University at Albany-SUNY gave Assemblywoman Clark’s office the 2007 Outstanding Placement Award. Assemblywoman Clark’s legislative office has been the only office in the State Legislature to welcome a student from the Fellowship on Women and Public Policy Program. "The center and I have a shared mission in promoting the involvement of women in government," said Assemblywoman Clark. The 2007 fellow, now member of Assemblywoman Clark’s staff, Jessica Gorman, is a double degree student earning a Master of Public Administration Degree at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy while simultaneously pursuing a Juris Doctor Degree at Albany Law School.

Assemblywoman Clark’s long-time support of the fellowship program led the panel of judges to select her office as the recipient of this year’s award. The Assemblywoman accepted at the Fellowship on Women and Public Policy Program’s graduation ceremony.

Thanks to Assemblywoman Clark, Andrew Jackson Campus Magnet’s Humanities and Arts High School choral students were treated to the first performance in an Eastern Queens high school by the Maryilyn Horne Foundation’s Resident Artists. Founded by legendary American Soprano Marilyn Horne, the foundation serves the dual purpose of educating both the greater public as well as school age children about classical vocal art song while providing performing opportunities for emerging young artists. The partnership with the Humanities and Arts High School will include continued in-school performances by MHF Resident Artists as well as tickets to their year-round events, including their annual festival, "The Song Continues..." at Carnegie Hall.

SKILLS TRAINING CENTER: 718-465-7677

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Foster-Laurie Senior Center:718-464-1129 ext.102

Programs to promote the holistic development of our community’s "seasoned" citizens.

COMMUNITY CARE DEVELOPMENT, INC.: 718-465-7677

One stop referral and resource center for access to social service programs and personal development opportunities in our community.

NYS OVARIAN CANCER HOTLINE: 1-866-53SHARE

SHARE: Self-Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer provides peer support, information and resources to callers, most of whom have been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer or have suspicious symptoms.

NYS HIV/AIDS COUNSELING & TESTING HELPLINE FOR QUEENS: 1-800-462-6785

NYS After Hours Hotline (Monday-Friday 4pm to 8pm and Saturday & Sunday 10am to 6pm) 1-800-872-2777; General Information: 1-800-541-AIDS, En Espagnol: 1-800-233-7432