Find Homeowner Assistance Fund Programs by State: Read More

NeighborWorks Report Illustrates the Ongoing Success of National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program

Published on September 24, 2015 by Glenn Gallo
NeighborWorks Report Illustrates the Ongoing Success of National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program

On September 24, NeighborWorks America released its eleventh Congressional Report on the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program. According to the report, NFMC participants, including 40 HFAs, have provided 1.9 million homeowners foreclosure mitigation counseling since the program was launched in December 2007.

From December 2007 through March 13, 2015, NeighborWorks, which administers NFMC, has awarded more than $762 million to further build the nation’s foreclosure counseling capacity, with HFAs receiving almost $250 million. More than 1,700 nonprofit counseling agencies and local NeighborWorks organizations have participated in the NFMC program throughout the country.

An evaluation, conducted by the Urban Institute last year, found that NFMC counseling continues to have a positive effect on homeowners participating in the program. The evaluation found that homeowners receiving NFMC counseling were roughly 1.5 times more likely than those without counseling to not have their mortgage re-enter a troubled status after receiving a loan modification cure. The study also found that NFMC-counseled homeowners were almost three times more likely to receive a loan modification cure than non-counseled homeowners. Those NFMC-counseled homeowners who received a loan modification cure had their annual payment reduced by an average of $4,980.