Mortgage Modification Marathon Headed to West Palm Beach

Post by Ken Grech, a top Simi Valley real estate agent. Search Simi Valley real estate listings.

Palm Beach Post, By Kimberly Miller

Beginning next week, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, or NACA, will conduct free around-the-clock sessions at the Palm Beach County Convention Center to help homeowners reduce unaffordable mortgage payments.

The non-profit company is able to get some borrowers same-day loan modification approvals through agreements it has with many of the country's major lenders. The company's maverick approach to the nation's mortgage meltdown has drawn hundreds of thousands of desperate homeowners to its Save the Dream Tour stops.

The five-day event beginning Feb. 25 in West Palm Beach is NACA's first Florida program. It's also its first 24-hour-a-day sessions.

"We never stop fighting for our customers," said Darren Duarte, communications director for the company's national office.

The Save the Dream Tour has already hit 12 cities nationwide, bringing with it more than 200 counselors and lender representatives.

Duarte said between 25 percent and 30 percent of homeowners who have come to the events are able to get a loan modification that day, either through a lower interest rate or a reduction in principal. As many as 80 percent of homeowners working with the company eventually receive a successful modification, Duarte said.

NACA is known for offering affordable home loans to low-income borrowers and for fighting predatory lending practices. The group receives government grants for its work, but also earns up to $500 from lenders for successful modifications that result in at least three on-time payments. The Treasury Department estimates about 3.4 million home loans nationwide are 60 or more days delinquent.

"With the debt challenges some consumers face in today's market, the more that can be done to counsel and help those at-risk to stay in their homes the better," said Debora Blume, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, which has an agreement with NACA.

For the West Palm Beach program, NACA is offering several pre-event workshops to start the modification process early and prep borrowers on the kind of paperwork they will need to show that they can't afford their current home loan. NACA works through the federal Making Home Affordable program, but also offers its own plans.