Preservation and Foreclosure Prevention: Where to Get Help/ Resources

If you are having financial difficulty or facing foreclosure, there are many reputable organizations that can provide you with assistance.

Foreclosure Outreach Group

Members of Take Root Milwaukee are working hard to connect borrowers with non-profit housing counselors that can provide information on a borrower's options when facing foreclosure. Counselors can also act as facilitators for communication between lenders and borrowers. All assistance is confidential and provided to you free of charge. If you are in any of the following situations, we encourage you to call the hotline:

• If you are looking to refinance or modify your loan.
• If you have not yet missed a mortgage payment but are concerned that you may miss future payments.
• If you are already behind on the payments.
• If you have received a notice of foreclosure.
• If you are having trouble communicating with your mortgage lender.

Also, be sure to check our Calendar of Events for workshops that are open to the public where you can get free, professional help on-site.  Protect your future! Let us help you plan carefully before you make any decisions. Call the Take Root Milwaukee Hotline now, at 414-921-4149 or fill out a help form online.

Your Lender

Your first line of defense should always be your lender. Your lender may have options to help you avoid foreclosure and can be your biggest ally if you are having difficulty paying your mortgage. When you speak to your lender or servicer, take notes, including the date of the call and the name or employee number of the person you speak with and write down what they say.

Housing and Credit Counseling Organizations

Housing and credit counseling organizations provide many resources and may be able to help you with confidential budget and debt counseling options.

• Contact a Milwaukee foreclosure agency. For a complete list, click here.
• Sign up for a foreclosure prevention workshop for homeowners sponsored by a non-profit community-based organization in the Milwaukee area, click here.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides a list of HUD-approved housing counseling agencies that provide free or low-cost assistance at 800-569-4287 or click here for more information.
• Call the Take Root Milwaukee Hotline at 414-921-4149. 

Metro Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation

If you have received a foreclosure filing, contact the Metro Milwaukee Foreclosure Mediation program, which is designed to help homeowners save their homes from foreclosure. Mediation is a confidential and voluntary process where a homeowner and the lender seeking to foreclose on your home may discuss ways to resolve a foreclosure case, including reinstatement of the loan and modification of the loan terms. For more information, call 414-939-8800 or visit www.mediatemilwaukee.com. 

Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council

If you think you may have been the victim of a foreclosure "rescue" scam or predatory loan situation the Fair Housing Council may be able to assist.  For more information call 414-278-9190 or visit www.FairHousingWisconsin.com. 

Independent Foreclosure Review Process

The Independent Foreclosure review was mandated in April of 2011 by the Federal Government.  As a result, fourteen mortgage servicers and their affiliates are identifying customers who were part of a foreclosure action on their primary residence during the period of January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010 and were financially wronged by servicer errors.  This mandate provides homeowners the opportunity to request a FREE independent review of their foreclosure process. 

Eligible homeowners have until July 31, 2012 to submit a request form; if the review finds that financial injury occurred because of errors or other problems during their home foreclosure process, homeowners may receive compensation or other remedy.  To request a form: Call 1-888-952-9105 Monday through Friday, 8AM-10PM ET or Saturday, 8AM – 5PM ET or visit https://independentforeclosurereview.com/

National Mortgage Settlement

In late 2011, it was announced that 49 state attorneys general and the federal government have reached agreement on a historic joint state-federal settlement with the country’s five largest loan servicers: Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. 

The settlement will provide as much as $25 billion in relief to distressed borrowers and direct payments to states and the federal government, after finding that the country’s five largest loan servicers routinely signed foreclosure related documents outside the presence of a notary public and without really knowing whether the facts they contained were correct. Both of these practices violate the law.   If you’d like to find out if your loan is affected by this settlement, the timeline for relief and how you will know if you are eligible contact the Wisconsin State Attorney General’s office.

More information:  www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com or click here for brief an informational flyer.

The Making Home Affordable Program

Find out if you’re eligible for the Making Home Affordable Program’s Home Affordable Refinance or Home Affordable Modification options. For more information, please click here.

State Bar of Wisconsin

For more information on the foreclosure process, click here.

Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee

For more information about this group, click here, or call their Foreclosure Hotline at 414-727-5373.