foreclosure prevention
If you are a resident of Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Watertown, or Belmont and are . . .
1. Having trouble paying your mortgage or are behind in payments,
2. Risking foreclosure on your property, or
3. A victim of Predatory Lending,
For Foreclosure Prevention counseling or to see if you are eligible for the Mass Housing refinance loan, call Bob Costa at (617) 868-4858 x208 or Jennifer Jonassaint at x215.
Click here to read testimonials of past Foreclosure Prevention clients!
To learn more about this issue, please view past HRI/HIP Newsletters featuring the topics of Foreclosure Prevention and Credit.
Predatory Lending is . . .
…dishonest lending. Predatory loans harm borrowers by making it difficult or impossible for them to keep up with payments. Borrowers may pay unnecessary fees and excessive interest charges. If they miss their payments, they risk losing their home. Borrowers who do not meet minimum credit standards usually do pay higher interest rates, but no one should be a victim of price gouging and outrageous fees.
…a type of lending that falls between appropriate risk-based pricing and blatant fraud and combines certain products, terms, prices, and practices. In the strictest and legal sense, predatory lending refers to secured loans such as home or car loans that are made by the lender with the intention that the borrower will not repay the loan, allowing the lender to seize the car or home and sell it for a profit. Informally the term has been expanded to refer to the practice of convincing borrowers to agree to unfair and abusive loan terms.... few lenders also abuse the system. Predatory lenders prey on people who are unfamiliar with bank loans. They trick people into paying unnecessary fees and high interest rates. Victims of predatory lending are usually low to middle income families who face the loss of their home through foreclosure.
…a type of lending that relies on risk-based pricing to serve borrowers who cannot obtain credit in the prime market, where higher degrees of risk for borrowers carry higher costs for loans. Subprime loans are often called “A through D” credits