REGION: Housing woes feed surge in foreclosure advice

For-profit advisers in demand even as nonprofits offer free help

By ZACH FOX - Staff Writer | Saturday, March 29, 2008 10:29 PM PDT ∞

As some real estate agents struggle and mortgage brokers close up shop, one real estate industry is booming: foreclosure advice.

You Walk Away, a Carlsbad company that guides homeowners through foreclosure, plans to quintuple its staff to meet demand. HomeFreeMe, a similar company, just launched in San Diego. And a smattering of copycats has popped up ---- Walk Away Smart in Los Angeles and Walk Away Plan in Arizona.

The proliferation of foreclosure companies has troubled some housing advocates, who point to government-sponsored agencies that provide the same services free.

"It's motivated by greed and desperation," said Daniel Scott, director of Faith Based Community Development Corporation, an Oceanside nonprofit that provides assistance to families facing foreclosure. "People are desperate for something that sounds like it will help them, and people who are greedy look to benefit from it."

The founders of You Walk Away and HomeFreeMe agree that much of what they offer can be found without cost. But by paying a fee, consumers get personal service and peace of mind, they say.

Over the last three months, banks purchased almost 4,000 foreclosed homes in San Diego County, a 250 percent increase from the same time a year earlier, according to ForeclosureRadar, a Discovery Bay tracking service.

And in February alone, more than 3,000 homes received notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process.

Ernesto Castillo said he could not keep up after the interest rate on his adjustable mortgage jumped and his payments increased by $1,200 a month to $4,700. Castillo decided to let his Florida home fall into foreclosure and move to Chula Vista as a renter.

He said he is relieved he contacted Phillip Bellante, a local mortgage broker who recently founded HomeFreeMe.

Stopping the calls

Bellante outlined a timeline showing how long Castillo could stay in his home rent-free, stopped phone calls from the bank and analyzed whether the bank would take legal action.

"He can spend his time with his family rather than on the phones for hours with lenders trying to figure out what to expect," Bellante said.

HomeFreeMe and You Walk Away also provide borrowers with attorney consultation sessions and credit repair programs.

All those services are offered for free by nonprofits such as Scott's Oceanside organization or Community HousingWorks, a government-backed nonprofit with offices in San Diego and Escondido.

You Walk Away charges customers $995 for its program and HomeFreeMe charges $897.

Jon Maddux, one of the founders of You Walk Away, said his company offers better service than the nonprofits and gets them comfortable with the foreclosure process sooner.

"You get what you pay for," he said. "You're not going to get answers quickly (from nonprofits). You'll get help, but you won't get the personalized service. They're just inundated."

Indeed, it takes about one month to secure an appointment with Community HousingWorks. The group helps families throughout the county, and all calls are funneled to just one counselor.

Nonprofit overwhelmed

Adelina Enriquez, the sole counselor, has file cabinets stuffed with hundreds of folders for the cases she juggles. She said she spends at least an hour simply transcribing information from the 60 voice mails she gets every day.

"It's very intense. Can you imagine a 60-year-old man crying on the chair in front of you? That's stressful," Enriquez said. "In the beginning, I didn't know what to do."

Enriquez said she counseled 215 families in the first six months she was assigned to the job. Of those, she kept 28 families out of foreclosure by modifying the loan, she said.

Whereas Enriquez focuses on getting clients into a loan modification first, some foreclosure advice companies tell their clients to look at modifications but focus their services on guiding them through the foreclosure process.

Francisco Hernandez visited Community HousingWorks Thursday, trying to save his Oceanside home from foreclosure.

After buying his home in 2003, he refinanced the loan in 2004 into an option-adjustable rate mortgage, meaning he can pay less than the interest charged each month. After three years of doing so, his $336,000 mortgage has ballooned so that he now owes $367,000.

At a certain point, the bank will force him to begin paying down the loan, which could cause his monthly payment to escalate from about $2,000 to $3,500.

Bank offers respite

His bank, Wachovia, drew up a loan modification that allows Hernandez to fix his interest rate at 7 percent for three years before reverting back to an option mortgage.

Enriquez called Wachovia Thursday and hounded a representative to get Hernandez into a fixed-rate mortgage for good.

"They can't modify from one bad loan into another bad loan," she said.

But by Friday, Hernandez had decided to accept Wachovia's three-year freeze, Enriquez said.

At Bellante's office, the mortgage broker-turned-foreclosure adviser met with Castillo Wednesday. Bellante continues to counsel Castillo after guiding him through the foreclosure process one year ago.

Castillo now rents in Chula Vista and is working to repair his credit so he can eventually buy another home.

He said he owed too much to even consider a loan modification.

"It was an emotional roller coaster. We bought a home, put in a pool and had the American Dream," Castillo said. "But it's life. Now, we're getting our credit fixed. If it weren't for the services, it would have been much more stressful."

Contact staff writer Zach Fox at (760) 740-5412 or zfox@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.