Home Foreclosure Tour Offers Free Resources
As the United States economy struggles to recover from paralyzing financial woes, a spike in home foreclosures have left many working class Americans homeless or drifting between temporary shelters.
The national foreclosure rate rocketed 18% in May compared with the same time last year, according to RealtyTrac, a data service tracking U.S. home foreclosures.
The mortgage crisis has impacted African American and other ethnic communities severely, says Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League (NUL), an advocacy group for African Americans.
NUL partnered up with civic groups, the National Council of La Raza, and the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, to form Alliance for Stabilizing our Communities. With a $2.5 million grant from Bank of America, the organizations are hosting nationwide fairs for homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The fairs, which run through June and July, include one-on-one legal and mortgage help and workshops.
“We feel that the African American, Latino and Asian American communities have quite a bit in common in sense they have borne a disproportionate brunt of the subprime crisis,†Morial says. “We wanted to try to work together in an effort to help people who are losing their home.â€
NUL has already completed fairs in Chicago and Dallas as part of its National Economic Empowerment Tour and will head to Los Angeles on June 27, Washington D.C. July 11 and Chicago July 26.
Click here for more information about the fairs.
Homeowners planning to attend should bring:
–Current pay stubs (within the last 30 days)
–2007 and 2008 income-tax returns
–Three months of bank statements
–Household expense budget
–Copy of closing documents and most recent correspondence from your mortgage company
–Most recent property-insurance and mortgage statements
– Renita Burns