The county soon will be inviting troubled and potential homeowners to come to class.

As part of an effort to brake the wave of foreclosures, Riverside County supervisors will be offering seminars around the county on how to avoid foreclosure and how to buy a house in one of the most difficult economies since the Depression.

Real estate and banking expert Chris Sorensen of Temecula will lead the two-part seminars. The first round will be offered this month to the 20,000 people who work for the county. About 200 of them are either in danger of losing their home or are in the foreclosure process now.

Supervisors approved the seminars last month, recognizing that reducing the supply of foreclosed homes would be a big step toward stabilizing the housing market, repairing scarred neighborhoods and healing the economy. Sorensen is providing his services to the county and participants for free.

Len Baron, professor of Real Estate at San Diego State University, said in a telephone interview Friday, that the success of those attending the seminars will depend on how willing banks are to modify existing loans.

"I've heard of some incredible modifications out there," he said, noting that a borrower he knows was offered and accepted an interest-rate reduction from almost 7 percent to 3 percent for two years. The interest on the loan will rise to 6 percent at five years.

Baron's SDSU colleague Mark Goldman agrees but cautions potential buyers not to expect housing appreciation for several years.

The professors, Sorensen and other real estate experts say only about half of homeowners in trouble seek help. And for the unschooled and unwary, they note, lurking predators promise loan modifications but likely do little more than collect fees.

Sorensen said he is recruiting other experts to help with the seminars, which could begin for the public next month.

Economist John Husing of Economics & Politics Inc. in Redlands said offering the seminars is a good idea.

"One of the great difficulties is people are getting into trouble and don't know where to turn or who to trust," he said.

Based on Husing's figures, a multitude of people need to turn somewhere. Owners of one-third of the 1.1 million houses in the county owe more on their houses than they are worth, he said.

Sorensen also hopes to launch a community improvement program that will mobilize squads of volunteers to clean the yards of vacant and unattended houses. Police say unattended houses become magnets for graffiti, dens for the drug trade and drags on the values of adjacent properties.

Sorensen said about one-third of those facing foreclosure likely are eligible for some loan modification program. For people who fibbed about their income on loan applications, potential remedies are much tougher, he said.

Sorensen not only brings expertise to the housing crisis -- he's living it. His own house in Temecula is worth less than he owes, and a mortgage banking firm in which he was a principal sustained millions of dollars in losses when the borrowers defaulted. He now is executive vice president at mortgage broker American Financial Network Inc. of Chino Hills.

Sorensen has been preparing his class materials and fretting about how to tell some homeowners that their best option may be to offer their house to the bank as a short sale, a process under which the bank sells the home for the best price it can get. For lenders, it's a cheaper process than a foreclosure.

Ultimately, Sorensen said, resolving the foreclosure crush will strengthen communities, even though it will be painful.

"If it causes us to give back again to our communities, help our neighbors and get back to the basics of life, can that be a bad thing?"

Contact staff writer Jeff Rowe at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or e-mail jrowe@californian.com.

A question sure to come up at the foreclosure and home-buying seminars: When will the decline in house prices stop?

Most economists think prices will fall further but they disagree on how much.

- John Husing of Economics & Politics Inc. says the bottom is near, and that vulture investors soon will be swooping up houses to rent.

- Chris Sorensen, the banker and real estate executive, reckons another 20 percent in value may yet to be wrung out of Riverside County housing.

- Len Baron, the San Diego State University professor, says it's a great time to buy -- prices and interest rates are low

- Mark Goldman, a SDSU professor and mortgage broker, says it's a good time to buy if the monthly mortgage costs are similar to rent costs. That way, the house could be rented if the homeowner moves or needs to rent the house.