Martin Rios, a foreclosure counselor with nonprofit Reston Interfaith, is part of a broad effort in Northern Virginia to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.
How and why did you get involved in foreclosure counseling?
Like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the foreclosure crisis hit our region without much warning or opportunity to prepare. Local jurisdictions hardest hit by the wave of foreclosures were initially focused on neighborhood, public safety concerns about the impact of vacated or boarded homes on already deteriorating home/property values. The few nonprofits in the area certified in housing counseling were focused on pre-purchase counseling, not helping homeowners navigate complex legal issues around foreclosure and bankruptcy. When a crisis like this occurs, it can take time for a community to scale up to respond. Reston Interfaith has been engaged in this community for nearly 40 years and we were soon fielding many calls for help.
For the typical homeowner who seeks out your help, how close is he or she to foreclosure?
We have seen a variety of situations, from those who are still current but know they are in trouble, to those who had already received a foreclosure notice. Too many homeowners were afraid to contact their lenders or fell prey to “counseling” scams that took homeowners’ money, wasted valuable time, and offered them no concrete resources.
How often are you able to work out an agreement with the lender to avoid foreclosure?
Unfortunately, only 20 percent of the cases closed to date were able to be resolved with acceptable loan modifications. Importantly, the majority of those were cases where homeowners were not in default, but were proactive in reaching out to us to help them make contact with the lender.
How is the glut of foreclosures affecting demand for your services?
Before this is over, we could see additional defaults and home losses by the thousands. … Like other human service agencies, we’ve seen demand for our services sharply increase in the past six months and we expect this trend to continue for some time.
