Foreclosure workshop draws big crowd

It was standing room-only Thursday at a Behind on House Payments workshop in Marysville that reviewed "cash for keys," the hope hotline and "all those things going on behind the curtain" when homeowners face foreclosure.

"I'll help you focus on the things worth worrying about," Lee Pliscou, directing attorney at the Marysville office of the nonprofit California Rural Legal Assistance, told the more than 40 people gathered.

Not worth worrying about is the concern that they face their problem alone, Pliscou suggested. One of out of 10 homeowners face foreclosure.

Inaction by those behind on home payments should be a real concern, the attorney said.

"If you do nothing," Pliscou said, "the steamroller of foreclosure" will follow.

Lincoln resident Lexie Karsch, 40, was happy to have the help on one of the things she said is going on behind the scenes.

She and her husband, Pete, who have three daughters, worked for builders before the housing boom ended and owe $4,500 after falling three months' behind on mortgage payments.

Karsch has contacted her lender and said things are as Pliscou described at the workshop.

"Everybody sounds so confused," she said of people who deal with her about the loan.

Karsch said she'll follow up on workshop advice that includes trying again if the first effort to modify loans and lower housing payments isn't successful.

The hope hotline, Pliscou said, is a toll-free number and offers a counseling service for homeowners. Pliscou said he's

gotten mixed feedback from people about its value — but said the service can provide a second opinion about what people facing foreclosure should do.

Cash for keys involves the lender paying the owner — and, in some cases, tenants living in a property facing foreclosure — funds for voluntarily leaving. Between $1,000 to $2,500 has been paid in such situations, Pliscou said at the workshop.

A homeowner in the Edgewater development in Linda, who asked not to be identified, said after the event that she and her husband face possible foreclosure on the house they bought for $348,000 in 2005.

The couple had their house on the market for a year but no buyers came forward. Other comparable sales in the area have brought between $179,000 to $200,000 for houses, the woman said.

Their lender wouldn't work with the couple in Linda until they were in default on mortgage payments, the woman said.

A Loma Rica resident who attended the workshop said she was surprised to see neighbors there.

She said a March 9 trustee sale looms on the home and five acres she bought in 2006 for $489,000 — and whose loan terms she seeks to modify.

Difficulty reaching and dealing with lenders was a common workshop theme — as were changing regulations involving loans, foreclosure and government assistance.

"The ground is shifting constantly," Pliscou said.

Noting the challenge homeowners may face in getting through to mortgage companies, the attorney said he heard of one man who was behind on payments. A private investigator, the man tracked down the people who had to be reached and got his loan modified, Pliscou said.

Know and Go:

California Rural Legal Assistance is holding free Behind on House Payments workshops at the CRLA office, 511 D St., Marysville.

They are scheduled at 3 p.m. March 9 and March 23 for Spanish-speaking residents, and 11 a.m. March 12 and March 26 in English.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com.