Monday, June 22, 2009

Facing Foreclosure? Find Help Now! Wendy Wagner is the staff editor and speechwriter for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. She has more than 20 years' experience as a professional writer and editor. A few days ago, a neighbor mentioned that another neighbor was trying to avoid losing his home. His wife had been laid off from her job in March, and the couple was afraid they would end up in foreclosure. I was glad to be able to tell my neighbor how to access programs to help them avoid foreclosure. And it occurred to me that lots of people are probably in the same boat. If you are facing foreclosure or worry that soon you might be, take these steps immediately to try to prevent losing your home: First, call the company that services your loan-the place where you send your monthly mortgage payment. Check your mortgage payment book or monthly statement to verify which bank or mortgage company it is. Call and talk to someone about your situation and find out what options you have. Believe it or not, the servicers usually want to help rather than have someone lose their home. Sometimes they can offer immediate solutions or give you a referral to find help. The sooner you begin working with the servicer, the more likely you are to avoid foreclosure in the long run. Next, find out if you are eligible for the new Making Home Affordable programs-you have to live in the mortgaged home, and the mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, although several major loan servicing companies have signed up to participate in the program for nonFannie/Freddie loans. To find out if you are eligible, visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov. The site is simple and set up to help you quickly find answers to your questions. Another source of information and assistance is the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD offers foreclosure avoidance counseling and has a complete list of approved counseling centers across the country. HUD also has a comprehensive information page with numerous resources and suggestions. If you have even a slight worry that you could lose your home, there are programs out there that can help you head off the trouble early. Don't wait to seek them out and get started. - Editor [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 11:47:15 AM     Legistalker. Legistalker - The latest online activity of Congress Members. Legistalker makes it easy for you to stay on top of what your elected officials say and how they vote. Legistalker was created by Forum One Communications as an entry for the Apps for America competition. The ever-growing database is updated every 20 seconds, and relies on data from Twitter, YouTube, Capitol Words, literally hundreds of different news sources, and others. [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 11:44:00 AM     US Office of Historian site redesign. Department of State Office of the Historian has just released the redesign of its site: www.history.state.gov. They've done a really nice job with the redesign including new and easier access to my favorite Foreign Relations of the United States. Users can now browse FRUS by themes like decolonization, instability in Latin America, US-China trade etc (though I'm surprised that there's no theme for Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, SALT etc. Perhaps they'll add those additional themes). Users can also browse by country to find history of US diplomatic relations and links to other key publications like Department of State Background Notes, Department of State Country Information, CIA World Factbook, and Library of Congress Country Studies. The new website boasts greater accessibility and searching within the Foreign Relations of the United States documentary series. It currently offers both textual and facsimile copies of Foreign Relations volumes from the Kennedy Administration through the Nixon-Ford administration. The Office plans to continue to digitize older volumes and eventually house all of the Foreign Relations volumes on its website. The website also contains updated sections on the history of the Department of State, biographies of notable diplomats, and an in-depth timeline of United States diplomatic milestones. The Office’s educational curriculum guides are also downloadable from the website. The Office hopes that through its enhanced presentation and organization, the new website will become the preeminent online resource for U.S. diplomatic history. --Source: U.S. Department of State [Thanks Resource Shelf!] [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 11:43:12 AM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 7/1/2009; 10:01:44 AM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien