128,980 New Listings - Last update: February 09, 2010 - 08:02 AM EST
The house of Sylvia Figueroa is like a living painting replete with the fluttering American flag. The idyll had nearly been shattered when foreclosure followed on the footsteps of her divorce. She found herself owing the bank $6,000 unable to cope with demands as she struggled alone with her two children.
She had fallen into the typical traumatized state of despair but somehow responded to promptings of well wishers and dragged herself to knock on the doors of Neighbouring Housing Services of Greater Cleveland. To her surprise tangible help was forthcoming. The house was saved from foreclosure.
This non-profit organization cobble together funds got from various sources like the state and county and use it for emergencies. This is one way Ohio is dealing with the foreclosure crisis. The Federal Government has announced a five-year freeze on interest rise. Critics opine that would only postpone the crisis and tide over the coming Presidential elections. Ohio has not been sitting back but trying to solve the problem of the worse foreclosure catastrophe in the history of the state. Ohio’s medicine is most comprehensive and gets to the root of the matter. Emergency funds are kept ready for help while on the other hand counseling awareness programmes are aggressively launched. Advocates are pitching in to renegotiate loans directly with lenders. Sometimes it is not unusual to come across houses that have been stripped of everything – plumbing pipes and electricity wires. In such cases the final extreme step is taken of bulldozing the buildings so that these no longer infect the neighbourhood. Abandoned houses attract crime and violence apart from becoming breeding centres of viral diseases emanating from overgrown gardens and stagnant pools.
The Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland (Democrat) feels that everybody has a responsibility towards the community. One cannot remain bystanders and allow the situation to drift.
The Ohio operations are also exposing the weak points in such drives. Strickland tried to get the mortgage servicers, those who collect the amount on behalf of the original lender, to sign a pact promising to warn the borrowers six months ahead of a rise in interest. But he failed. The servicers refused. They excused themselves by citing Ohio laws relating to truth-in-lending, credit-reporting and predatory lending. The Governor is now trying to beat them at their own game and seeking loopholes in the law and if required new measures to tie their hands.
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One Response
Ohio has been hit pretty hard by the foreclosure debacle. It’s good to see that some concerned, informed citizens are attempting to effect some change, though, outside of the government intervention or additional regulations.
Politicians in Washington seem to have forgotten the inherent generosity and charity of average Americans, who will voluntarily come together to fix community problems. We don’t need more taxes, more borrowing, more inflation, or direct intervention in voluntary contracts to fix the foreclosure problem.
We probably need much less of all of those, and much more community participation. Good thing Ohio is beginning to understand that.