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Diocese of Orange Sponsors Forum Bringing
Lenders, Agencies, Homeowners Together

The Diocese of Orange is bringing together the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department, private lenders and other organizations to offer practical loan modification assistance to distressed homeowners.  According to HUD, the Making Home Affordable Program, with which the Diocese is partnering, has already offered permanent modification to nearly 300,000 homeowners nationwide and potentially will offer significant payment reductions to participants attending the July 24, 2010 event.

For residents in other parts of California, the Federal website Making Home Affordable or California’s Keep Your Home can help locate a mortgage counselor near them, explain assistance programs and eligibility and help with tips on avoiding foreclosure scams.  The benefit of Diocese of Orange event is that it brings all the relevant agencies and lenders together at one time, in one place.

“The protracted foreclosure crisis continues to tear at the social fabric of our communities.” said Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange.  “This program is yet another effort we have undertaken to help families struggling with the ongoing effects of a difficult economy. I felt it was essential to help bring this assistance program to Santa Ana, whose residents suffer from the largest number of foreclosures in Orange County.”

Shelter is a basic human right according to Catholic social teaching, as is the responsibility to meet one’s own needs when possible.  But the recession, unemployment and loans with ballooning interest payments have left many adrift in their ability to afford shelter because of circumstances beyond their control.

Houses that once seemed affordable have turned into financial disasters as hours are cut or jobs eliminated.  Lacking the resources to support mortgage payments, many homeowners faced the largest financial crisis of their lives.  Nationwide, 250,000 new families enter foreclosure each month. And with the Golden State’s high property values the problem is even worse here.

Click here for details on time, place and location (in Spanish and English)

San Bernardino and Imperial counties are the hardest hit in the state.  Merced, Stockton, Riverside, Modesto, Bakersfield and Vallejo-Fairfield are among the metro areas with some of the worst foreclosure rates.

Orange County is also high on that list.  In 2009, 34 percent of the county’s home sales were foreclosures.  Mid-year 2009 saw two percent of homes in foreclosure and six percent had ninety day delinquency on mortgage payments.  As of May 2010, one in every 264 homes in Orange County was in foreclosure, with the majority in the northern part of the county.

In response, the Diocese of Orange teamed with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Orange County Home Ownership Preservation Collaborative (OCHOPC) mortgage assistance fair.  OCHOPC is a partnership of non-profits, government agencies and businesses attempting to preserve and promote home ownership through outreach, education, counseling and financing.  (The event will be held on July 24 at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.  Click here for event details.)

HUD approved housing counseling agencies, lenders and non-profit legal counselors will assist homeowners in evaluating options to restructure mortgages at no cost.  The public is invited, but encouraged to make reservations at myhousingforall@aol.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  HUD’s “Making Home Affordable Program” has offered permanent loan modification to nearly 300,000 homeowners nationwide.  This will be the focus of the Santa Ana event.

Additional programs will be forthcoming to assist Californian’s struggling with mortgage debt.  In February 2010, the Federal government established the Housing Finance Agency Innovative Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets.  California will be one of the first five states to participate and receive $699.6 million of the $1.5 billion funding.  To qualify, states had to experience a 20 percent or greater decrease in housing prices.  Each state gathered public input and crafted programs to meet challenges facing their respective housing market.

California’s plan will offer four options administered under the Housing Finance Agency.  It’s called Keep Your Home and should be operational in the fall.  It will provide:

• Assistance to reduce principal with earned principal forgiveness
• Funds to address delinquent loan arrearages
• Mortgage payment subsidy to unemployed families
• Assist families that have executed a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transition to stable housing

Challenges in the housing market threatened both people and the community.  Some may become homeless.  Children, once stable in school, may have lapses in their education as they relocate.  Emotional tension in the family increase dramatically.  Businesses and government see sales and revenues drop, as people have less income and decrease their personal spending.  So, governments like California struggle to provide public services and maintain safety net programs.  Charitable organizations face a decline in donations, at a time when people need their services most.

Helping people stay in their homes maintains the emotional and economic stability of communities as it affirms the human dignity of individuals to one of the basic necessities of life.