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Skyrocketing foreclosures could mean more help for struggling homeowners

Commissioners to consider partnership to help fund cost of more counselors tonight

BY THE NUMBERS:
1,952 - Number of foreclosures in 2007

473 - Number of foreclosures in 1998

300 - Percentage number has grown in last 10 years

SINCE JAN. 1

136 - Families that have received foreclosure prevention counseling through WPCOG

10 - Families close to losing their homes

4 - Families have lost their homes

By Dee Henry | Hickory Daily Record

Published: December 15, 2008

NEWTON - The rising number of foreclosures in this area has resulted in the Catawba County Board of Commissioners to consider partnering with other local government agencies to help fund the cost of more foreclosure counselors hired by the Western Piedmont Council of Governments.

County and city managers in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties have requested a proposal from WPCOG for funding additional staff for a Mortgage Counseling Program.

The information provided by WPCOG sets the cost of a new staff member, including salary, benefits and indirect charges, at $65,000. The project cost to Catawba County, if they choose to participate, would be $8,000 to cover the remainder of this fiscal year, and $16,000 for fiscal year 2009-10.

The WPCOG is a HUD certified Counseling Agency, previously concentrating on home ownership and reverse mortgage counseling. But the changing economy has turned that focus to delinquent mortgages, the most labor-intensive form of counseling the council provides, according to information distributed in the commissioners' agenda packet. The new position would help with the increased demand for that form of counseling.

Foreclosures in the Unifour area have increased from 473 in 1998 to 1,952 in 2007, according to statistics from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. The number has increased 300 percent in just the last 10 years.

Data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond further backs the contention that foreclosures in the area are at a critical point — between 7 percent and 10 percent of the subprime mortgages in the Unifour area are more than 90 days past due. The data shows the four counties have a larger share of subprime mortgages moving toward foreclosure than any other area of the state.

The new counseling position will be discussed at the Catawba County Board of Commissioners' regular meeting at 7 tonight in the Robert E. Hibbitts Meeting Room in the 1924 Courthouse in Newton.

Also on the agenda is a discussion of the proposed 2009 state and federal legislative agendas and the board of commissioners' goals for the upcoming year.