GOVERNOR PAWLENTY ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO ASSIST HOMEOWNERS FACING FORECLOSURE
~ Includes Foreclosure Counseling Workshops, funding for mediation, lender compact ~
Actions announced by Governor Pawlenty today include:
- Expanded Foreclosure Counseling Workshops to be held around the state
- Creation of the Minnesota Foreclosure Prevention Compact
- Mediation funding to assist homeowners when counseling is unsuccessful
- New Commerce Department assistance hotline for counselors
Follow this link to the complete press release.
Despite the good intentions of many of these state and county foreclosure help commissions and hotlines, I would be very surprised if they made much of a dent in the foreclosure rates. They seem more like job projects and an excuse for local governments to keep growing bigger, even as property values decline and the justifications for high property taxes disappear.
But I would be very interested in seeing how well these programs do, after the foreclosure crisis has abated (which may not be until 2010, at least). Will they help more people save their homes and justify spending tax money on the programs? Or will they actually push more homeowners into foreclosure, creating the exact opposite of the desired results?