Foreclosure prevention
The content in this area is living and growing. New resources will be added regularly.
Meet our expert: John Snyder
 | John Snyder is the Manager of Foreclosure Prevention Programs at NeighborWorks America. In this role, John serves as a coordinator of initiatives led by, and partnered with, NeighborWorks America, providing support and guidance in the development of sustainable models for consumer outreach and counseling. His work entails leveraging resources from the non-profit housing community, state and federal governments, and mortgage servicers and investors. Further responsibilities include participation on various sub-committees of the Hope Now Alliance, as well as co-convening the National Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Stabilization Task Force with Enterprise Community Partners and the National Housing Conference. Prior to joining NeighborWorks America, John was employed by Fannie Mae in default intervention and loss mitigation. His prior experience also includes statistical modeling and credit policy development for Chevy Chase Federal Savings Bank in Bethesda, MD. Both his undergraduate and graduate studies were completed in Washington DC, with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from American University and a Master of Business Administration from The George Washington University. |
The NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions, an initiative of NeighborWorks America, was created to preserve homeownership in the face of rising foreclosure rates. In conjunction with national nonprofit, mortgage and insurance partners, the Center builds capacity among foreclosure counselors around the nation, conducts public outreach campaigns to reach struggling homeowners, and researches local and national trends to develop strategic solutions. In cities and states with high rates of foreclosure, the Center works with local leaders to create sustainable foreclosure intervention programs. Already the Center’s work has reached thousands of homeowners.
See some of the center's research and reports here.
Resources for consumers or people working with consumers
If a consumer is seeking the assistance of a housing counselor to avoid foreclosure, the referral should go to a trusted, non-profit counselor agency. Organizations that are qualified to provide housing counseling services to consumers can be identified at the sites listed below.
is a website that provides information for consumers regarding the identification, avoidance, and reporting of loan modification scams. As well, it provides information for organizations that would like to become campaign partners. Campaign collateral is accessible through this site for potential partners. If consumers suspect they may have been a victim of a loan modification scam, they should be directed to complete and submit a form to report the fraud. Instructions are available on this site for the completion and submission of this form. www.loanscamalert.com
www.hud.gov This website provides a list of all housing counseling agencies that are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The site allows for a search of housing counseling agencies by state, and it allows for a search to be more narrowly defined by names of specific organizations, certain services provided by the agency, zip code, and languages provided.
www.findaforeclosurecounselor.org This website is searchable by state and by zip code. If a zip code is entered into the search, it will provide a list of all organizations and sort those by proximity to the zip code. The counselors provided in this list are all non-profit housing counseling agencies that are funded through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program (NFMC). NFMC is Congressionally-funded program designed to provide funding to non-for-profit housing counseling agencies, and it is administered by NeighborWorks America. The list of organizations that participate in this program varies slightly from that of the HUD list of agencies in that some organizations are not HUD-certified but are affiliated and held to the quality control and compliance standards set by their respective state housing finance agencies.
Powered by Fannie Mae, www.knowyouroptions.com is a consumer-driven website that provides information related to the options available for foreclosure avoidance. Options are explained in clearly presented language that is basic enough for average consumers to understand. This site also includes an interactive video that allows consumers to “assume the role” of a selection of characters. The video presents different scenarios, each with varying degrees of complexity, and it allows the consumer to make choices along the way. Each choice directly affects the outcome of the consumer’s decision. It provides not only information related to the mortgage default and foreclosure avoidance options, but it also presents information on the avoidance of fraud, overall impacts of financial decisions on both credit and employment, and the effects of foreclosure on family members.
Resources for counselors
For information for counselors to access regarding Treasury’s Hardest Hit Funds, www.financialstability.gov/roadtostability/hardesthitfund.html provides access to the proposals that outline the state-specific programs. The states that were provided funds under this government program are Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington, DC. The funds were made available so that states could provide assistance to consumers who are experiencing reduction of income due to job loss and who may be experiencing negative equity in home value. Each state provides access to its proposal which includes qualifying criteria for access to the funds as well as a website for additional information.
For information regarding Treasury’s Making Home Affordable program, including program guidelines and available program-specific training, counselors should visit www.makinghomeaffordable.com. This site provides information in separate section that is dedicated to resources specific to non-profit housing counselors who are seeking additional information on the program components and implementation.
