Government gets creative to ward off foreclosures

The government is finding more creative ways to help homeowners avoid foreclosures. A new program in Detroit, begun by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which overseas the Federal Housing Administration, allows a lender to submit an insurance claim on a delinquent mortgage. HUD transfers the mortgage to a company to service the loan and create a workout plan that will make it more affordable for the homeowner. A similar program, spearheaded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, works through the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens’s counseling services and the church’s Community Development Corporation to identify homeowners in danger of foreclosure and negotiate buy-outs.