Tips to Avoid Foreclosure:
- Contact Your Lender
- Open and Respond to All Mail from Your Lender
- Contact a HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agency
- Create a Personal Budget
- Review Your Financial Resources
- Consider Ways to Increase Income and Reduce Expenses
- Make Sure You Try Saving Money
Tips to Avoid Foreclosure Scams:
Foreclosure Prevention Program
This Program is designed to preserve the affordable housing stock of Broward County for single family home owners who need assistance in the form of a deferred payment loan to pay defaulted mortgages where the home owner is in default at least thirty (30) days. The property must be owner occupied, and the home and homeowner must meet program qualifications and guidelines.
The program is administered by the:
Broward County Housing Authority
4780 North State Road 7
Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33319
954-497-4583 (Voice Mailbox for Housing Counseling)
For more detailed information about foreclosure proceedings and processes, please visit the federal Housing and Urban Development Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Broward County Clerk of Court websites at the links below. To further define your search, you may type foreclosure in the keyword search boxes on the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Internal Revenue Service sites.
The following are HUD approved counseling agencies that are located in Broward County and the services they provide:
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Housing Counseling and Referral Line
877-483-1515
Follow the prompts for your specific need.
BROWARD COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY
4780 North State Road 7, Main Office
Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33319
954-497-4583 (Voice Mailbox for Housing Counseling)
- Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Counseling
- Homebuyer Education Programs
- Loss Mitigation
- Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
- Money Debt Management
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
- Predatory Lending
- Pre-purchase Counseling
- Renters Assistance
CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING SERVICES (CCCS) OF THE MIDWEST
4491 South State Road 7, Suite 201
Davie, FL 33314
800-355-2227
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Counseling
Loss Mitigation
Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
Money Debt Management
Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
Post-purchase Counseling
CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING SERVICES (CCCS) OF THE MIDWEST
3170 North Federal Highway
Lighthouse Point, FL 33064
800-355-2227
- Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Counseling
- Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
- Money Debt Management
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
DEERFIELD BEACH HOUSING AUTHORITY
533 South Dixie Highway
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
954-425-8449-110
- Fair Housing Assistance
- Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Counseling
- Homebuyer Education Programs
- Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
- Mobility and Relocation Counseling
- Money Debt Management
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
- Predatory Lending
- Pre-purchase Counseling
- Renters Assistance
HOPE HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
2305 Sheridan Street
Hollywood, FL 33020
305-826-9343
- Homebuyer Education Programs
- Loss Mitigation
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
- Pre-purchase Counseling
HOUSING FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
2400 North University Drive #200
Pembroke Pines, FL 33024
954-923-5001
- Fair Housing Assistance
- Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Counseling
- Home Improvement and Rehabilitation Counseling
- Homebuyer Education Programs
- Loss Mitigation
- Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
- Money Debt Management
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
- Predatory Lending
- Pre-purchase Counseling
- Renters Assistance
- Services for Homeless
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INC.
2800 W. Oakland Park Blvd #301
Fort Lauderale, Fl 33311
954-564-4037
- Fair Housing Assistance
- Home Improvement and Rehabilitation Counseling
- Homebuyer Education Programs
- Loss Mitigation
- Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
- Money Debt Management
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
- Predatory Lending
- Pre-purchase Counseling
- Renters Assistance
URBAN LEAGUE OF BROWARD COUNTY
11 Northwest 36th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33313
954-625-2570
3521 West Broward Boulevard, Suite 201 (Branch Office)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
954-625-2574
- Homebuyer Education Programs
- Marketing and Outreach Initiatives
- Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling
- Post-purchase Counseling
- Predatory Lending
- Pre-purchase Counseling
- Renters Assistance
Additional agencies and websites with foreclosure information:
Broward County Consumer Protection Division
954-765-4400
(Newsletter entitled The Educated Consumer)
Broward County Bar Association
954-764-8040
2-1-1 Broward Helpline
954-537-0211
The Florida Bar Association
The Florida Bar Association, in conjunction with other legal groups, has launched a toll-free hot line (Florida Attorneys Saving Homesat 866-607-2187) to aid homeowners who may not be able to make their next mortgage payment or those who have already missed payments, but are not yet in foreclosure. The goal is to pair callers with attorneys who will offer their services pro bono (at no charge), and who will try to negotiate with the lender on the homeowner’s behalf. Call between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Florida Office of Financial Regulation
Information about avoiding or dealing with a foreclosure is available from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.
Homeownership Preservation Foundation
(888) 995-HOPE
Trained counselors are available through the Homeownership Preservation Foundation.
Office of the Attorney General of Florida
Type in keywordforeclosurefor information about avoiding mortgage foreclosures. Identifying common scams is also available on the Attorney General’s website.
Helpful Foreclosure Information
(Taken from the Consumer Protection Division’s Newsletter entitled “The Educated Consumer”)
Foreclosures and Renters: If you learn that the mortgage holder of property you are renting intends to terminate your lease, ask if you can negotiate a new lease once it acquires ownership of the property. If you receive a notice that the mortgage holder has already filed foreclosure proceedings in court because the owner has not paid the mortgage, send a written response to the court stating that you are a tenant. If you have a lease, include a copy. This way, you will be informed of any action the court takes regarding the termination of your rental agreement.
It is possible that the court will terminate your lease, even if it has not expired, and you have not defaulted in any way on your rental obligations. You will most likely have several months advance notice of that action.
Whether you should pay your rent to the owner, the mortgage holder or the court should be discussed with an attorney. To find one, contact the Broward County Bar Association’s attorney referral service or 954-764-8040.
Before you rent, check with Broward County Records Division to see if the property is in foreclosure proceedings. Those records can be accessed in person at the Broward County Governmental Center, 115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 119, Fort Lauderdale, or online at www.broward.org/records. Type in the owner’s name and select “Foreclosure.”
Foreclosures and Owners:The Florida Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force has filed lawsuits against several businesses and their owners, including three in Broward County, for their alleged roles in foreclosure rescue schemes. The deceptive operators defrauded numerous homeowners who were in the foreclosure process out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity.
In March 2008, the Florida House of Representatives unanimously passed the Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act. If passed by the Senate as it is now written, the proposed law will ensure that, among other things, homeowners are properly informed about their rights when they are signing a contract with a foreclosure rescue entity. It will also provide a three-day right of cancellation period that allows the consumer to cancel the agreement with the foreclosure rescuer.