Foreclosure Assistance

Area banks, credit unions and mortgage holding companies are offering a variety of customer assistance programs that will allow borrowers to suspend mortgage payments for up to 180 days without facing fees, penalties or hits to their credit score in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here for more information.

No one expects to fall behind on their mortgage payment or lose their home to foreclosure, but sometimes the unexpected challenges of life can make the responsibility of homeownership tough. Before seeking foreclosure assistance, it is important to understand the following:

    • There is never an up-front charge for foreclosure prevention counseling. It is always confidential and free of charge.
    • Foreclosure counseling is not reported to any credit reporting agency and will not impact your credit score


If financial difficulties are threatening your ability to keep your home, the following Take Root Milwaukee members can assist you:

GreenPath Financial Wellness
877-290-6974 or www.greenpath.com
Provides free or low-cost and confidential counseling services for credit, debt, foreclosure prevention, and reverse mortgage, assisting clients to improve their financial situation. They are a national nonprofit organization with over 55 years of experience in financial counseling and education, and is an approved U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing counseling intermediary. Foreclosure prevention counseling is available free of charge. GreenPath offers counseling or interpretation services via phone or in-person in over 170 languages.

Housing Resources Inc.
414-461-6330 or www.hri-wi.org
HRI offers foreclosure prevention counseling, assisting homeowners who are in danger of becoming delinquent on their mortgage, and to understand their options. The main goal is to help you save your home, and their specialists can provide assistance in-person or via telephone counseling.

Mediate Milwaukee
414-939-8800 or www.mediatemilwaukee.com
Provides voluntary mediation services to residential homeowners and lender/servicers who are parties to a foreclosure action filed in Circuit Court. All mediations are confidential, conducted by a licensed attorney, include a mandatory referral to a homeownership counselor, and entail a minimal fee. Mediation does not replace or stay the legal foreclosure action, but can assist in resolving the foreclosure action in a manner acceptable to both parties.

Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
(414) 278-1240 or www.fairhousingwisconsin.com
MMFHC helps protect borrowers against predatory home loans and foreclosure rescue scams (the illegal practice of charging money up-front for help with preventing foreclosure), and helps those who have already become victims of these actions. To report or receive assistance with mortgage rescue scams, predatory lending questions or complaints call 414-278-1240, x22.

Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Inc.
Phone: (414) 727-5330 Location: 728 N. James Lovell Street Milwaukee 
The Legal Aid Society provides a lawyer and a leg up to income-eligible Milwaukee County residents on a host of legal matters, including housing and consumer law (student debt, bankruptcies/bankruptcy-bypass, IRS tax disputes, auto loans), wealth preservation issues (Financial Powers of Attorney and Wills), as well as civil rights actions.

Legal Aid’s newest initiative involves a community redevelopment grant for the 53204 and 53206 zip codes. The primary goals of the venture are:
1) increase the economic asset base in these neighborhoods by offering legal services for financial stabilization, wealth transfer, and capital investment (e.g., small business formation and affordable housing development), inclusive of increased access to financing and credit;
2) stabilize housing and improve habitability by a corresponding decrease in evictions and increase in home ownership;
3) address and prevent conditions for predatory lending that led to the foreclosure crisis, inclusive of enforcement of available legal remedies.

Legal assistance is free to qualifying Milwaukee County residents and includes Legal Aid’s traditional housing and consumer defense services as well as access to innovative business legal services to advance home ownership, entrepreneurship and affordable housing development. The ultimate goal is delivery of impactful legal services informed by residents to regenerate neighborhoods from within.
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MY HOME BY FREDDIE MAC
Extending help to homeowners impacted by COVID-19.
If you’re struggling to make your mortgage payments due to COVID-19, relief options are available.
Use this link to access resources-> My Home

RENTERS & FORECLOSURE
Tenants whose landlords are being foreclosed upon have protections under federal law. Once a property is acquired after a foreclosure sale, any leases in place must be honored, or give 90-days notice to terminate tenancies of any tenants who do not have a lease. If you are a renter in a foreclosure situation, contact Legal Action of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center, or the Tenant Resource Center for assistance.