The story isn’t new – foreclosures continue to plague the nation and have hit some fellow Aurora families hard. The Aurora Association of REALTORS® offered its help to some of those in danger of losing their homes by hosting a “Save Your Home” housing fair in November.

Volunteers from AAR and other parts of the real estate community gave selflessly throughout the day. Roy Lopez, Kentwood Company, JoAnn Patrick, RE/MAX Unlimited, and Silvina Sansot, CHFA, greeted more than 150 homeowners as they stepped through the doors at Rangeview High School.

A heavy burden
“Most everyone we greeted was shy and soft spoken, few were open in their demeanor and avoided eye contact, and every person looked as though they carried the heaviest burden of their life.” Patrick said.
Most also carried a handful of paperwork and were cautiously prepared to meet face-to-face with their lender or a housing counselor in hopes of seeking a solution to their problem. In many cases they had received a letter directly from their lender inviting them to attend.

In fact, lenders came from all parts of the nation and included Bank of America/Countrywide, Ocwen Loan Servicing, Citi Group, Wells Fargo/Wachovia, JP Morgan Chase/Washington Mutual, Aurora Loan Services and the City of Aurora Home Ownership Assistance Program. Representatives met with everyone during the four-hour fair and either entered information into their computer networks, did loan modifications on the spot, or provided housing counseling assistance. Special thanks to Rep. Coffman’s and Rep. Perlmutter’s offices for securing the lenders who were there.

A valuable wait
As homeowners waited to meet with lenders, they had the opportunity to hear 30-minute seminars on the foreclosure process, workforce center job resources and FHA loan modifications; how to speak with a mortgage company, how to protect against predatory lending, and how to buy time using qualified written requests.

Mildred Wilkins, a foreclosure trainer and the president of the Indiana-based consulting company Home Ownership Matters, encouraged attendees to stay in their homes and to call their lender to try to get started on the workout process.

Other resources available on Nov. 7 included representatives from the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline, Arapahoe/Douglas Counties Works Force, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, HUD/FHA, VA, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, CHFA, Arapahoe and Adams County Housing Authorities, Brothers Redevelopment and NAR. Staff members from the offices of Reps. Coffman and Perlmutter were also on hand during the event.

Big effort, big reward
Nearly 40 AAR members volunteered their time to plan the event, assist with operations, set up, clean up, promote it and ensure that it was presented professionally and offered a safe environment.
At the end of the day, many were rewarded with the best gift of all: hearing people who feared losing their home to foreclosure expressing some measure of relief as they took steps toward saving it. They reported hearing these words from attendees:

• “I’m not afraid to open my mail now.”
• “Thank you for all being here, you did a really good thing today.”
• “I got all my questions answered.”
• “This was very helpful,” and more.

Many of those who arrived carrying that huge burden left a little lighter, armed with strategies for a solution – or at the very least a contact person and the tools needed to protect their home.

AAR wishes to thank everyone involved for their contributions. As AAR President David Barber so aptly said, “Truly great results come from the efforts of a truly great team.”

That truly great team focused on community outreach, support and neighborhood stabilization. And, although it was not part of the mission, a rewarding part of the fair was the establishment of relationships with local and federal entities and the staff members of Reps. Coffman and Perlmutter, both of whom had planned to attend but were detained in Washington, D.C. by a vote on the Health Care reform bill.

Representatives from many entities volunteered:
Chairwoman Kay Watson, NAR Housing Committee; Director Nick Bokone, Greater Metro District Government Affairs; Brad Viatar, NAR representative; AAR President David Barber, RE/MAX Unlimited, Inc.; AAR Affiliate Ann Bagwell, Colorado State Bank and Trust.

Roy Lopez and JoAnn Patrick greeted attendees at the door, helping them to identify the lender they needed to meet.

Doug Ravdin, D.R. Real Estate, joins guest speaker Mildred Wilkins, Homeownership Matters, in front of her booth. Wilkins
provided foreclosure process handouts and copies of her book.

Tony Ormsby, City of Aurora Homeownership Assistance Program, was among many affordable housing organization representatives who joined forces to offer help at the Save Your Home fair.