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.

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Local Information for York, PA

Latitude: 39.962692 -- Longitude: -76.728043

Other Area Cities: New Cumberland York Red Lion

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York, known as the White Rose City (after the Wars of the Roses), is a city located in South Central Pennsylvania. The population was 40,862 at the 2000 census. York is the county seat of York County, and is located at 39°58'00?N, 76°45'00?W. York was founded in 1741 by settlers from the Philadelphia region, and named for the English city of the same name. It was incorporated as a borough on September 24, 1787, and as a city on January 11, 1887. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), York served as the temporary capital of the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation were drafted and ratified in York. The Conway Cabal, a political intrigue against General George Washington, had its origins in the Golden Plough tavern in York. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Pennsylvania 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	York	Pennsylvania	United States
Population	40,862	12,281,054	281,421,906
Median age	31.3	38	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	36.5	34
Median age for Female	32.5	39.4	36.5
Households	16,137	4,777,003	105,480,101
Household population	39,975	11,847,753	273,643,273
Average household size	2.48	2.48	2.59
Families	9,249	3,208,388	71,787,347
Average family size	3.17	3.04	3.14
Housing units	18,534	5,249,750	115,904,641
Occupied units	16,137	4,777,003	105,480,101
Vacant units	2,397	472,747	10,424,540

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