Local agency helping people to keep homes

The U.S. housing industry has been staggered by the current economic downturn and continues to show only limited signs of recovery.

Our state has been particularly hard hit by the slow housing market and foreclosures, especially in the urban markets.

Many believe the economy will have difficulty fully recovering unless solutions are found to the housing problem.

One thing that has been done is to encourage banks and other lenders to work with those facing foreclosure so they can have more manageable terms on their home loans. The idea is that it is better to accept a little less on the loan rather than force people into foreclosure, which ends up hurting everyone involved.

It frankly has not been highly successful. Relatively few have been able to avoid foreclosure.

A local social help organization is attempting to change that.

The Western Arizona Council of Governments (WACOG) has a 40-year history of providing needed services in our area, ranging from preschool programs to assistance to the elderly. It has even provided temporary payments for those unable to pay their mortgages, but that wasn't much help to those facing foreclosure — they needed a long-term answer.

WACOG found an answer in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They created a program to help people negotiate with lenders.

“Unfortunately, people are intimidated by banks and mortgage companies, and a lot of times they just don't know how to talk to them,” said WACOG executive director Brain Babiars, “so we are kind of the intermediary between them.”

It has worked to keep people in their homes — more than a hundred in the past year — and avoid at least some of the foreclosures that have prevented a turnaround.

This is the kind of grassroots effort that could help make a difference in dealing with our troubled economy if it were emulated across the nation.