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 Evansville, IN

Latitude: 37.977166 -- Longitude: -87.550566

Other Area Cities: Evansville Newburgh

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Evansville is a city located in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 121,582, and a metropolitan population of 342,815. It is the third-largest city in the state of Indiana. The city is the county seat of Vanderburgh County. In 2004 Evansville was named an "All-America City" by the National Civic League. [1] GR6 The city is situated on a gentle horseshoe bend on the Ohio River and often referred to as "River City." It was commonly referred to as "Stop Light City" before the city's Interstate 164 bypass was constructed. It serves as a regional hub for the Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois tri-state area. Evansville has a humid continental climate (just north of the humid subtropical line) and four distinct seasons. Average temperatures range from 32 degrees Fahrenheit to 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Annual rainfall averages 42 inches and annual snowfall averages 13 inches. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Indiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Evansville	Indiana	United States
Population	121,582	6,080,485	281,421,906
Median age	36.5	35.2	35.3
Median age for Male	34.7	33.9	34
Median age for Female	38.2	36.5	36.5
Households	52,273	2,336,306	105,480,101
Household population	116,862	5,902,331	273,643,273
Average household size	2.24	2.53	2.59
Families	30,512	1,602,501	71,787,347
Average family size	2.9	3.05	3.14
Housing units	57,065	2,532,319	115,904,641
Occupied units	52,273	2,336,306	105,480,101
Vacant units	4,792	196,013	10,424,540

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