As state's largest HUD-approved housing counseling agency, Brothers has long led effort to educate consumers
In a press release issued today, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet announced that he and six other Senators have formally requested additional funding for housing counseling from the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
In a letter sent to the committee, Bennet along with U.S. Sens. Kristen Gillibrand (D.-N.Y.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), requested $180 million for the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program (NFMC) and $100 million for the Housing Counseling Assistance Program as the subcommittee considers funding levels for the coming fiscal year.
“Housing counselors offer a great service for Colorado families struggling to make ends meet, but resources have not kept up with demand,” Bennet said. “Without proper funding, counselors can’t do the important work of making sure families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.”
As the state’s largest housing counseling agency and manager of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline (1-877-601-HOPE), Brothers Redevelopment has long worked to educate both consumers and public officials on the value of housing counseling.
Under the agency's guidance, the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline has faciliated more than 106,000 calls from Coloradans hoping to hold onto their homes. Through the unique arrangment, Brothers Redevelopment counselors have directly assisted more than 2,000 metro area homeowners over the past year.
Numerous studies have shown that homeowners who receive counseling are more likely to avoid foreclosure and have their mortgage payment lowered than borrowers who chose to navigate the process themselves.
The formal request for additional funds especially important for families on Colorado’s Western Slope, where two of the four HUD-certified counselors serving the hard-hit region work only quarter-time because of lack of funding. In Mesa County, the number of foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2010 increased by 127 percent over the same period in 2009 and 234 percent over the same period in 2008.