Westchester Organization Teams with State to Help Struggling Homeowners
With many homeowners across New York still struggling four years after the collapse of the housing market, the state is looking to help residents stay in their homes.
On Friday, counselors from Westchester Residential Opportunities, a White Plains-based non-profit housing organization, met with local residents in White Plains at the state’s Department of Financial Services’ Mobile Command Center. Homeowners having difficulty making their mortgage payments were offered guidance on what their options are, with possibilities ranging from loan modification to short sale or bankruptcy.
“We work with people who are experiencing mortgage difficulties,” explained WRO Deputy Executive Director Andrea Klausner. “The earlier they come to us the better. Often times people don’t come to us until it’s too late.”
Even an affluent county like Westchester has its fair share of residents struggling to pay back home loans.
Nearly 5,000 homeowners in the region, about 3 percent of the local mortgage activity, are at least 90 days late on their loan payments, according to Klausner.
“Everybody thinks of Westchester as this rich county,” State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Mamaroneck) said Friday, as she joined WRO staff and other elected officials outside the Mobile Command Center on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard and Martine Avenue. “The fact is we have 3,600 people facing the risk of foreclosure and we have 600 in foreclosure. That’s in our rich county.”
WRO, funded primarily by New York State with some federal and private funding, has helped 77 homeowners achieve permanent modifications so far this year, according to officials for the organization. That’s about one third of the people who come to WRO, Mortgage Default Prevention Program Director Veronica Raphael said.
“We’ve been certainly funding a lot of organizations like the ones today, Westchester Residential Opportunities and others throughout the state, to be on the front lines helping distressed homeowners,” said State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), explaining the role the state played in helping those affected by the housing market’s collapse. “So people have the idea that all is not lost.”
Having homes in foreclosure not only hurts those families but can be a drag on the neighborhood, explained White Plains Mayor Tom Roach.
“Very often, there will be no maintenance on the home and it’ll fall into disrepair,” he explained. “We do have a few houses that I’m constantly getting calls on.”
Seeking assistance can be especially tough for higher-income families who never had financial problems before the recession, Klausner said.
“With the recession and with unemployment, people are finding themselves in trouble who never thought they would be in trouble,” she continued. “They’re embarrassed to seek help.”
Oppenheimer, though, urged residents to find out what their options are before it’s too late.
“It’s hard for some people to ask for help, but it’s crazy if the thought of losing your home is the option,” she said. “That shouldn’t be the option.”
Events like the one Friday are important to raise awareness about WRO and DFS, Klausner said.
“We are very grateful for events like this that get the word out,” she explained. “Because we don’t like being Westchester’s best kept secret.”
WRO has an office on 470 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains. More information can be found at www.wroinc.org or by calling (914) 428-4507. Those seeking assistance can also call the DFS Hotline at 1-800-269-0990.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
