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 Benton, KY

Latitude: 36.855231 -- Longitude: -88.354047

Other Area Cities: Mayfield Benton

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Benton is a city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,197 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall CountyGR6. Shape-note singers gather annually at Benton on the fourth Sunday in May to sing from a tunebook called The Southern Harmony. This event, organized in 1884 and called The Big Singing or Big Singing Day, is considered by many to be the oldest indigenous musical tradition in the United States. Benton is also known for an annual festival called "Tater Day" at which Marshall Countians gather on the court square to eat, listen to music and political speeches. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,197 people, 1,767 households, and 1,111 families residing in the city. The population density was 411.3/km² (1,065.3/mi²). There were 1,922 housing units at an average density of 188.3/km² (487.8/mi²). -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Kentucky 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Benton	Kentucky	United States
Population	4,197	4,041,769	281,421,906
Median age	42.8	35.9	35.3
Median age for Male	38.1	34.6	34
Median age for Female	47.1	37.1	36.5
Households	1,767	1,590,647	105,480,101
Household population	3,861	3,926,965	273,643,273
Average household size	2.19	2.47	2.59
Families	1,111	1,104,398	71,787,347
Average family size	2.8	2.97	3.14
Housing units	1,922	1,750,927	115,904,641
Occupied units	1,767	1,590,647	105,480,101
Vacant units	155	160,280	10,424,540

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