PASADENA, Calif. - (Business Wire) IndyMac Federal Bank (IMFB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services (LA NHS) are proud to announce the first in a series of free Home Preservation Days for customers of IMFB. The first such event will occur on Saturday, November 22, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Marvin Braude Constituent Services Center at 6262 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys, California.
At the event, homeowners at risk of foreclosure will have the opportunity to speak with loan counselors and discuss their options, including whether they may qualify for a loan modification. To receive counseling, customers should bring with them documents that show their income (such as recent paycheck amounts and other sources of income), expenses and assets, and their IMFB loan number. Spanish-speaking counselors will also be on hand.
Further information will be available at a joint press conference to be held Wednesday, November 19 at 10:00 A.M. at the Marvin Braude Constituent Services Center, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd, in Van Nuys, California. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be in attendance. In addition, IMFB CEO John Bovenzi and LA NHS President & CEO Lori Gay will be on hand.
As conservator of IMFB, the FDIC has piloted a series of innovative, proactive tools at the bank to reduce the number of unnecessary foreclosures nationwide. Chief among these is an ambitious loan modification program to avoid unnecessary foreclosures by modifying loans, and create long-term affordable payments by reducing monthly housing payments (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) to a maximum of 38% of the borrowers’ gross monthly income. While not every IMFB borrower will qualify for a modification, IMFB wants to assist borrowers that do qualify. The program was announced on August 20, 2008 and thousands of IMFB borrowers have already received modified loan terms. The bank estimates that as many as 46,000 of its 650,000 residential mortgage customers nationwide are at least 60 days behind in their payments and may be eligible for a loan modification. To be eligible for the program, the borrower must be living in the home, at least 60 days past due, and be able to demonstrate by providing financial records that they cannot afford their current payment, but could afford a modified payment. All modifications require verification of the borrower’s income, consent to a Modification Agreement, and the first payment of the new modified monthly payments. Customers unable to attend the event may seek assistance by calling 877-908-HELP.
In the coming weeks, IMFB and the FDIC plan to hold additional Home Preservation Days in other communities experiencing high home foreclosure rates.
IndyMac Federal / FDIC
Evan Wagner, 626-535-6637
evan.wagner@imb.com
or
City of Los Angeles
Jonathan Powell, 213-978-0741
jonathan.powell@lacity.org
or
LA NHS
Ester Cadavid, 213-305-0029
ecadavid@lanhs.org
