Lynn to offer foreclosure counseling with help from the United Way

LYNN – The Housing Authority is helping homeowners marooned in foreclosure to navigate their way back to financial security.The Authority is one of several across the state receiving $400,000 from the United Way to pay for foreclosure prevention and counseling services.Data gathered in March indicated 1,200 Massachusetts properties were seized by mortgage companies, an increase of more than 140 percent from last year. The number of petitions to foreclose also rose by 33 percent in March, an indication that the growth of foreclosures is still on the rise.With 186 foreclosures logged in Lynn last month, Authority Executive Director Charles Gaeta said the United Way money will help pay for Authority workers to reach out to residents in “neighborhoods severely impacted by foreclosures.””This grant will allow LHAND to offer group workshops, provide one on one foreclosure prevention, mitigation and education services and work with other community organizations,” Gaeta said.United Way is also spending money with help from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development to make it easier for homeowners to use “Mass 2-1-1,” a free state foreclosure information referral hotline.Lynn is joining Revere and other communities to help local residents facing foreclosure.City officials at the start of the year signed a three-month agreement with Chelsea Restoration Corporation to counsel homeowners who are unable to afford escalating monthly mortgage payments.According to Chelsea Restoration, 358 Revere homes are currently in foreclosure with mortgage lenders threatening to take the properties away from their ownersThe agency sent Mayor Thomas Ambrosino a letter last December indicating that 1,147 other homeowners are on the brink of seeing their low introductory mortgage rate escalate.”Homeowners in crisis require intensive one-on-one sessions with counselors devoting time and expertise to navigate through myriad public initiatives and provide funding options,” Chelsea Restoration stated in a letter it sent Dec. 12 to Ambrosino.