Thongkham Rathsamy is worried ... His adjustable rate loan will go up in two months, increasing his payment by more than two hundred dollars.
Living on a fixed income ... it's an increase he can not afford.
Translator: "That is a definite concern of his. He fears he will lose the property and he won't have a place to live."
Rathsamy is still current on his payments, but he came to the Fresno housing resource center looking for advice. Not everyone is as proactive.
"Some people are coming in a day before their auction sale ... And we have been able to extend it for another 30 days to allow them for time to work with their servicer."
The center offers foreclosure counseling and assistance to more than 20 people a day ...
"Some neighborhoods have higher concentrations, but it doesn't discriminate; it is throughout the city." Interim director Jennifer Rakaphoume says locally, more than 70-percent of homeowners who receive foreclosure notices end up losing their homes. "It's a lack of education and knowledge in the public of where those resources are available to assist them."
"No Homeowner Left Behind" agencies and city staff today presented the Fresno city council with a status report on the foreclosure situation ...
Bob Voss with the Community Housing Council said, "It's been getting worse. There's been more notice of defaults, more notice of trustee sales. It's getting worse as its going ... And nobody knows where it's going to end up at, because there is no crystal ball."
No crystal ball is needed to see the impact foreclosures have on the city with increased blight, vandalism and lower property values. The agencies would like the city's help educating homeowners-- directing them to resources and more funding to help people like Thongkham Rathsamy keep their homes. Voss: "A lot of them are people that deserve to be in a house but got the wrong loan, or bought at the time the market was at the top and now it's back down."
Help is available 24 hours a day. The local hotline number to call with any housing or foreclosure questions-- its 559-234-1492.
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