A new advertising campaign is targeting New York’s struggling homeowners who may be unaware of the $60 million available to provide them free counseling and legal assistance.
Given that federal housing
Apparently many New York homeowners do know about the Homeowner Protection Program and the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s commitment to use—over a three-year period—$60 million from New York’s share of the national mortgage settlement money to fund housing advisory services.
Since June 2012, when the program was announced, 35 legal services organizations and 59 housing counseling agencies statewide have received funding to provide free foreclosure prevention services through the Homeowner Protection Program.
In just the first five months of reporting on the Homeowner Protection Program, roughly 7,400 New York homeowners have been counseled through the program. Of that total 2,570 homeowners, or close to 35%, “have pending or formally approved loan modifications.”
Now, almost one year later, the AG’s office has initiated a series of public announcements expected to help connect more New Yorkers statewide to access free foreclosure risk counseling and legal assistance.
“My office will continue to do everything in its power to put homeowners first, including making sure they access the resources available,” Schneiderman said.
Titled “Signs,” the AG’s public service information campaign encourages homeowners to call the statewide foreclosure hotline at 855-HOME-456 that was launched in January and visit www.AGHomeHelp.com to connect with local organizations and agencies. It will air statewide in both English and Spanish “for an indefinite period.”
