Housing Counselor Recommends Gambling to Avoid Foreclosure?

Housing Counselors working with homeowners seeking solutions to their financial hardship and alternatives to foreclosure comb through the homeowners’ individual situations. We’ll look at their past, current and possible future circumstances, making several recommendations based on that in-depth review. We’ll make sure those homeowners are aware of resources available in their communities that may help stabilize their household. This might be anything from medical, food, energy assistance, tax preparation, legal services to emergency housing in the event a foreclosure is imminent, in addition to working with Servicer/Investors to find a way to avoid foreclosure on a mortgage. We do some serious research and some serious negotiating, and are thrilled when homeowners reach their goal of staying in their home.We sometimes have to give homeowners the news that they need to look at transitioning out of their home.

Some homeowners that come to us for information have done a tremendous amount of research on their own, gathering information from their servicers (aka banks and mortgage companies), the Internet, and family/friends/colleagues. There is sometimes so much information available, they are lost trying to sort through it and figure out what applies to their situation and what doesn’t. Sometimes, they get it in their head that they are going to ask for something from their Servicer that they don't fit the guidelines for. Sometimes, they ask for something they ARE eligible for, but their Servicer denies their request. That's when they frequently turn to housing counseling which can really make a difference - "With a counselor’s help, 69 percent of counselees obtained a mortgage remedy, and 56 percent were able to become current on their mortgages" was reported May 2013 in a Foreclosure Counseling Outcome Study.

A recent CBS report suggests that while reviewing homeowners’ possible choices Housing Counselors should make another recommendation – check your lotto numbers! Now, I am NOT recommending gambling as a solution to financial hardship, nor do many of the household budgets I review with homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure have room in them for this form of entertainment. But, my recommendation to you...if you've already bought the ticket, CHECK YOUR NUMBERS!

See you out there!