Funds will help 300 NC renters and homeowners buy and keep their homes
Raleigh, NC – March 26, 2011 – The Homeownership Center, a division of Raleigh, N.C.-based CESI Solutions, a leading nonprofit credit counseling agency, announced today that it is one of the proud recipients of a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for $43,000.
“With this funding, we are able to continue to help hundreds of North Carolina home-buyers and homeowners realistically evaluate their readiness for a home purchase, understand their financing and down-payment options, and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process. We can also keep combating predatory lending by helping borrowers review their loan documentation, and avoid potential mortgage scams, unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and even foreclosure,” said Sheryl Merritt, program manager at The Homeownership Center.
The Obama administration recently released $42 million dollars to housing counseling agencies through HUD to help more Americans buy and keep homes. More information on the grant can be found here. HUD awards annual grants under the housing counseling program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants must be HUD-approved and are subject to monitoring and oversight to maintain their HUD-approved status.
The Homeownership Center’s counselors also aid in foreclosure prevention by helping homeowners facing delinquency or default employ strategies, including expense reduction, negotiation with lenders and loan servicers, and loss mitigation, to avoid foreclosure. With foreclosures at critical levels nationwide, these services are more important than ever.
CESI’s Homeownership Center provides many services including reverse mortgage counseling to seniors, credit counseling to homeowners and potential home buyers, post-purchase credit education, and other debt education services that help Triangle residents become wiser consumers, money managers and homeowners.