HELP is out there for distressed homeowners, and it is FREE.  You do not need to pay anyone to help you avoid a foreclosure, or to modify your loan.  There are FREE HUD approved counselors available to help you, and throughout the state, there are recurring seminars and workshops aimed to help you traverse this housing help maze.

Here are some upcoming dates to know for workshops near the Alameda and Contra Costa County areas:

Save the Dream Tour
www.NACA.com 
San Francisco’ s Cow Palace .
October 16th – 20th.
See the www.NACA.com site for details and what to bring to this event.  This is an event you can get help right away.  Lenders are present and ready to help you modify your loan if you qualify.  From the NACA site:  “NACA has the most effective long-term mortgage solution for at-risk homeowners because it permanently reduces the interest rate and if necessary reduces the outstanding principal based on what the homeowner can afford. NACA’s restructure solution has established the national standard for long-term solutions for thousands of owner-occupant homeowners. NACA can do this because it has secured legally binding agreements with most of the major lenders and servicers, which covers 90% of the at-risk homeowners.

All of NACA’s services are FREE. Homeowners drive and fly from long distances to attend these extraordinary Save the Dream Tour events. NACA had over 500 staff and volunteers who put in long hours and lots of hard work to help so many homeowners save their dream.”

There was a recent article printed in SFGate about these events, though there is a discrepency on location.  The article shows it happening in Richmond, however the NACA site does show Cow Palace.  So please confirm location if you sign up for this event.  FULL SF GATE ARTICLE

___________________

MORE Foreclosure Prevention Workshops (more info):
Read the attached flyers as some of these workshops have both HUD approved counselors AND lenders available to discuss loan modification options on the spot.

 
OAKLAND locations

Sponsored By: City of Oakland Mayor Ronald V. Dellums and NID HCA – Date: 11-07-09  FLYER

Sponsored By: NID Housing Counseling Agency -  FLYER 
Every Weds and 1st and 3rd Saturday.  Free housing counseling clinics thru: www.nidonline.org.
Dates:  10-07-09 · 10-14-09 · 10-17-09 · 10-21-09 · 10-28-09 · 11-04-09 · 11-07-09 · 11-11-09 · 11-18-09 · 11-21-09 · 11-25-09 · 12-02-09 · 12-05-09 · 12-09-09 · 12-16-09 · 12-19-09 · 12-23-09 · 12-30-09

Sponsored By: The Unity Council -  FLYER Foreclosure Prevention Clinic
Dates: 10-14-09 · 10-28-09 · 11-11-09 · 11-18-09 · 12-02-09

______________

Catherine Myers, REALTOR
Alain Pinel Realtors
Walnut Creek, CA
Serving Contra Costa and Alameda Counties (San Francisco’s East Bay Area)

925-683-2125
www.DiabloValley.net

Concord, Clayton, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Danville and Alamo.

Dozens and dozens of short sales completed with most of the major national lenders and including many local banks and credit unions too.  Call to get information, a free consultation and insight from an experienced short sale professional who knows YOUR local market.  Free resources to local legal and financial consultants to help you make the right decision.

It may have already been said a dozen times on this site – but I’ll say it again.  You must seek the council of an experienced attorney and/or CPA when deciding the question as to whether to foreclose or to attempt a short sale on your home.  Here is a site I found with an outline of California Foreclosure Laws.  It may provide you a shallow base of knowledge, but please see an attorney.  It may cost anywhere from 200-400.00 but it will be money well spent if it saves you from making a costly mistake later.

California Foreclosure Laws

The Mt. Diablo Housing Opportunity Center (www.mtdhoc.org) is offering a FREE housing resource fair on Saturday, November 10th from 10am to 3pm.  Official representatives from local cities will be on hand to provide information about housing programs in Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Martinez.  You’ll be able to also find information about credit, first time buyer programs, senior programs, community outreach programs, foreclosure preventation and much more.   There will be various presentations all day, and from their flyer you can expect to see the following:

11:00am Senior Housing Rights
11:30am Foreclosure – ways to save your home
12:15pm City and County – First time Home buyer and rehab programs
1:00pm How to improve credit scores
1:30pm Renter and landlord rights and responsibilities
2:00pm Question and Answer Panel

From their website: The mission of The Mount Diablo Housing Opportunity Center is to provide Contra Costa County residents with a higher quality of life by acting as the central resource for all housing needs and education. 

You can view a flyer for this resource fair in both spanish and english here: FLYER FOR HOUSING FAIR

The resource fair is located at:

Diablo Valley College
321 Golf Club Rd
Pleasant Hill, CA
10am to 3pm
Saturday, November 10th, 2007

See you there!