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 Lafayette, LA

Latitude: 30.213901 -- Longitude: -92.029363

Other Area Cities: Crowley New Iberia Lafayette Breaux Bridge Abbeville Rayne

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Lafayette is a city on the Vermilion River in Lafayette Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Lafayette is the parish seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 110,257; a 2004 census estimate put the metro area's population at 246,160. It is the fourth largest city in the state. The city was founded as Vermilionville in 1821 by a French-speaking Acadian named Jean Mouton. In 1884, it was renamed for the Marquis de Lafayette, who assisted the United States during its Revolutionary War. The city's economy was primarily based on agriculture until the 1940s, when the petroleum and natural gas industry became dominant. The city is also home to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, formerly University of Southwestern Louisiana. Lafayette has a strong tourism industry, attracted by the Cajun and Creole cultures of the surrounding region and hosts the annual Festival de Musique Acadienne, Festivals Acadiens, and the annual Festival International de Louisiane. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Louisiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Lafayette	Louisiana	United States
Population	110,257	4,468,976	281,421,906
Median age	33.1	34	35.3
Median age for Male	31.4	32.6	34
Median age for Female	34.8	35.3	36.5
Households	43,506	1,656,053	105,480,101
Household population	105,819	4,333,011	273,643,273
Average household size	2.43	2.62	2.59
Families	27,116	1,156,438	71,787,347
Average family size	3.07	3.16	3.14
Housing units	46,865	1,847,181	115,904,641
Occupied units	43,506	1,656,053	105,480,101
Vacant units	3,359	191,128	10,424,540

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