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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 20, 2003 Government foreclosure signs like this one posted at a White City house are bad news to homeowners. Officials at the social service agency ACCESS say calls from people seeking help avoiding foreclosure have about doubled this year. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli ACCESS sees a big increase in homeowners who need help making their house payment By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune With the economy sputtering and unemployment benefits drying up, more Jackson and Josephine county homeowners are seeing their American dream become a nightmare. ACCESS Inc. of Medford, a social service organization that provides financial counseling to homeowners in both counties, has noticed an increase in people wondering how they can keep lenders at bay. Calls for assistance have averaged at least one a day so far this year, officials say, up from an average of about three a week last year. "I have had borrowers call me the day before the auction, and there is nothing you can do," said Donna Trembley, housing counselor for ACCESS.The agency can’t actually pay homeowners’ mortgages, but it can help with food or energy costs. It offers budget help and even can call lenders to negotiate on a homeowner’s behalf, Trembley said.She urges homeowners to call for assistance as soon as they realize they don’t have the money to pay their mortgages. If they wait past the 90-day point without paying lenders, it is often too late to help, she said. Advertisement Many homeowners get into trouble when someone loses a job and unemployment benefits run out. "We see a lot of one-income households where the family can’t afford day care," she said. It is also difficult to find a new job that will pay the mortgage and all the other expenses because the average income is only $10.50 an hour in Jackson County, she said. Even families with two wage earners can get into trouble. "In one situation there was a two-income family where the both husband and wife are working in a household of five and the husband loses his job," said Trembley. "There is not enough to service the debt, pay for the food, the car payments and the insurance. They cannot possibly come up with that kind of cash." In another situation, a retired couple couldn’t afford their house, but Trembley arranged for a reverse mortgage to help them over their financial hump. ACCESS, like other agencies throughout the country, searches for ways to help homeowners, by finding organizations that will pay for food, energy or other expenses. Trembley also will call a lender on behalf of the borrower tonegotiate a compromise that could avert auctioning the house. "The last thing most lenders want to do is go through the expense of a foreclosure," she said. Cindy Dyer, housing manager for ACCESS, said the increase in problems with homeowners isn’t particular to this area. Part of the spike in calls, she said, is due to the extensions on unemployment benefits running out and greater awareness of services provided by agencies like ACCESS. Homeowners fall into a mental trap that if they fall behind, there is no way to catch up on their payments, she said. "There is the fear that if they are delinquent one month, they will become homeless soon," said Dyer. Generally, ACCESS can help someone only if the circumstances are beyond a homeowner’s control, such as being laid off, having medical problems or going through divorce. Sometimes it is difficult for people to deal rationally with a situation as difficult as losing a home, she said "It is a loss, and people go through the stages of anger, denial and all those emotions," she said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s