Published: April 08, 2007 01:49 am      

Want to avoid losing your home?

MOREHEAD — It’s one story that’s hard to miss.

Headlines scream “housing crisis” while TV news graphics herald a “mortgage meltdown.”

Analysts believe more than 1.5 million homeowners this year could face foreclosure — that’s legalese for when lenders want the money you borrowed or they’ll take your home.

In an era when homeownership rates have gained steadily, it’s an economic and personal blow to many.

Like Amanda and Anthony Bowling of Morehead.

The couple bought their house, their first, just short of three years ago on the edge of Fleming County.

They had two children. He had a good job at a plastics plant. All seemed well.

Until the layoff, and a run of bad luck with creditors where he lost a paycheck to debts before Christmas. That’s when they got behind on their house payments.

“Actually, I wasn’t thinking I could get any help from anybody ... I figured I was going to lose my home,” Bowling said.

He called his mortgage company, which sent them to a debt management company in Lexington. Bowling then ended up signing up for classes with Frontier Housing in Morehead.

“We started working on budget plans; the first time or two estimating expenses for electric, water, gas, food and comparing that to your to net income,” Bowling said. “On the second time we talked more, and began setting up budgets.”

After the third class in March, their mortgage company agreed to modify the family’s home loan to decrease payments for a few years until they can get back on their financial feet.

Essentially, they have a plan now, Bowling said, and won’t be caught unprepared again.

“The best advice I can give anybody is don’t give up on your home, because there are people out there who can help you,” he said.

Stacey Epperson, Frontier’s executive director, couldn’t agree more.

“Most people want to run and hide and think it will go away,” she said. “But it’s a less expensive proposition to work it out.”

Frontier is a nonprofit affordable housing provider offering home building, mortgage lending and homebuyer education in Carter, Elliott, Rowan and six other counties and the city of Ashland.

Recently, it and partner NeighborWorks joined the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping consumers battle foreclosures through a network of counselors and educational programs.

The foundation operates a toll-free hotline — (888) 995-HOPE — and Web site, www.995hope.org, to put consumers in contact with local programs like Frontier’s.

The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Epperson said.

“If somebody from this region calls the hotline number, they’re going to start with them and then involve us when appropriate,” she said.

Frontier helps in a couple of ways.

“First, we have certified homebuyer education counselors to help families look at their situation, find out how to save in other areas and get them on the right track,” Epperson said.

“Or, if we need to make contact with the lender to help negotiate, we will,” she said. “Most people in foreclosure should take the opportunity to talk (to their lender) because it’s very expensive for that bank to foreclose, so there can be negotiations.”

Last year, Frontier helped get seven foreclosures stopped, while this year it’s intervening in about five so far.

And, the earlier the better because in the first 60 to 90 days, it’s easier to help and prevent foreclosure, which is a harsh reality in Kentucky, Epperson said.

In 2005, the state was No. 5 in the country for foreclosures, she said.

Part of the reason is so-called “teaser” loans, also known as “2/28” loans, because lenders let homebuyers borrow at a low interest rate for the first two years before it balloons higher the next 28 years.

It lets people with bad credit or bad jobs get into a home with hopes of improving their income before the high interest rates kick in. However, few people make it.

“We’re noticing calls more and more about those situations,” Epperson said.

It’s the same crisis that’s facing the country and driving the much-talked-about foreclosure rate predictions in the subprime market, that is the housing market for risky creditors.

Analysts point blame at a lack of due diligence from a lender on a home’s longterm affordability, divorce, job loss, economic depression or plain old predatory lending where mortgage brokers convince unsuspecting wannabe homebuyers that it’s a good deal when it’s not, then sell the mortgage to another lender at a profit and exit the game, leaving the homeowner set up to fall.

Then again, maybe it’s because 52 percent of employees live paycheck-to-paycheck or nearly 42 percent of all American households do not have enough in liquid financial assets to support themselves for at least three months, according to recent surveys.

Whatever the reason, the reality is more people could face losing their home.

But, there is hope and help, say agencies like Frontier, American General Financial Services, Countrywide Home Loans, Freddie Mac, National City Mortgage Co. and State Farm Insurance, to name just a few partners with NeighborWorks.

Generally, they say you should:

— Call the hotlines or HUD-certified organizations for advice and support.

— Develop a realistic household budget to help ensure long-term homeownership.

— Learn how to work with your lender to bring your mortgage up to date.

It worked for the Bowlings.

“At one point, we really thought we were going to lose our home, three months behind on payments,” Bowling said. “But we’ll make it.”

The debt management classes were interesting, especially the lessons on penny-pinching, he said.

“The way I learned it, if you go back and you can actually do that you can come out more ahead ... Cut a Big Mac off here and a Whopper there, by the end of the month you’ve got an extra 60 or 70 bucks.”

For your home.

ALLEN BLAIR can be reached at ablair@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2657.