Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

November 20, 2008

Everyone seems to agree that flooding the market with empty, foreclosed homes does not help neighborhoods maintain stability – either as a way of living, or regarding the value of homes. Empty homes do nothing for a neighborhood.

Recently some organizations are taking tentative steps to allow homeowners who are defaulting on their mortgage to remain in their homes –at least for the time being.

Fannie and Freddie Mac have announced that they are freezing foreclosure sales until after the new year while they review strategies and the future of their organizations. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. recently announced foreclosure-prevention programs that aim to reduce interest rates, extend repayment schedules and, in the case of Citigroup, reduce loan amounts, to help borrowers keep their homes. But the programs have focused primarily on loans wholly owned by those companies because they feel they have more authority to rework those mortgages.

HSBC is also making more options available to more people. For example, it is contacting customers before their adjustable-rate loans reset to higher rates and freezing the current rate or allowing the borrower to pay a rate below what the new rate would be. The bank also is lowering fixed rates for selected borrowers. All this in an effort to stave of foreclosures.

One way of stabilizing markets where supply exceeds demand is to regulate supply. That way the people who can buy homes can buy from sellers who can’t afford to stay in their current home. But, amazingly enough, new home construction is still going on – even in saturated markets. Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg suggests, only half-jokingly, that the Treasury should impose a moratorium on home building. "It sounds like lunacy, but we have to destroy the housing capital stock to help put a floor under the market," he said.

As of 11/22/09 the Janet Dicharry RePage is ranked at 2,051 with 70 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for Baton Rouge, LA

Latitude: 30.45809 -- Longitude: -91.140229

Other Area Cities: Denham Springs Baton Rouge Gonzales Baker Zachary Port Allen Scotlandville

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Baton Rouge photos!

Click on Photos to Enlarge. To see all Baton Rouge area photos Click Here.

Submit your photos of Baton Rouge and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

Baton Rouge, French: Bâton-Rouge (pronounced /'bætn '?u??/ in English, and /b?t?~ ?u?/ in French) is the capital and the largest city of Louisiana, a state of the United States of America. Historically, Baton Rouge has been the second largest city in Louisiana behind New Orleans, but as of mid-2005, the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Katrina have, at least temporarily, reduced the population of New Orleans such that Baton Rouge is currently the largest city in Louisiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 227,818 and as of 2004, the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimate puts the city at 224,097. The Greater Baton Rouge area as of 2000 had a population of 602,894, but has grown to over 750,000 since the 2000 census. It is the second largest metropolitan area in the state after Greater New Orleans. Baton Rouge is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish. Baton Rouge is home to the main campus of Louisiana State University and to Southern University. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Louisiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	United States
Population	227,818	4,468,976	281,421,906
Median age	30.4	34	35.3
Median age for Male	28.8	32.6	34
Median age for Female	32.1	35.3	36.5
Households	88,973	1,656,053	105,480,101
Household population	215,365	4,333,011	273,643,273
Average household size	2.42	2.62	2.59
Families	52,661	1,156,438	71,787,347
Average family size	3.12	3.16	3.14
Housing units	97,388	1,847,181	115,904,641
Occupied units	88,973	1,656,053	105,480,101
Vacant units	8,415	191,128	10,424,540

Visit US Census