CONNECT QUEENS:

Saturday June 25, 2011 1-3pm.  New Haven Ministries-Starlight Pavillion 130-05 101st ave, Richmond Hill, NY 11418

Homeownership Preservation: Strategies for Success & Negotiations through Mortgage Delinquency

For more information call 718-596-2010.

The CONNECT QUEENS CAMPAIGN (of CHANGER, Inc.) is intended to connect homeowners to the quality mortgage counseling and legal services that are provided by nonprofit organizations in Queens. The campaign was developed to address the following persistent problems:

1) Homeowners in Queens continue to rank at the top of the list of homeowners across the state of New York who are at-risk of foreclosure.

2) Homeowners in Queens continue to be victimized by fraudulent and/or illicit private companies who charge exorbitant upfront fees and promise or guarantee to “save” a homeowner from foreclosure, but usually do little to no work. This problem is particularly high amongst non-English speaking homeowners in Queens.

3) Many homeowners, due to a lack of trust or a belief that they can workout their mortgage problems alone, have often been led to sign agreements with their banks that are not in their best interests. These homeowners are the “doing it ourselves” group, and we are consistently seeing problems with the types of workout solutions that these homeowners are obtaining from their banks. Homeowners, for the most part, are not qualified to negotiate with their banks, and it is vital that they make connections with nonprofit service providers who can assist them at no cost.

As part of our CONNECT QUEENS CAMPAIGN, we are organizing Homeowner Education events on a periodic basis throughout the borough. We are also engaging in door-knocking, telephone outreach, and direct-mailing efforts.