(Washington DC) “Help Now” for homeowners at risk of foreclosure is what members of the House Financial Services Committee are calling the agreement between the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (“NACA”) and Countrywide Financial Corporation  (“Countrywide”). A congressional panel on Friday, November 2^sd was exploring solutions to the nation’s foreclosure crisis. NACA CEO Bruce Marks presented written testimony describing the best foreclosure prevention solution while naming the “Bottom Ten” servicers/lenders who refuse to provide real long-term foreclosure prevention solutions. 

This comes just one day after a bleak report by Realty Trac revealed a record number of foreclosures in the fourth quarter.

The unprecedented agreement between NACA and Countrywide was hailed as the “gold standard” when it comes to protecting homeowners from foreclosure. The program is based on NACA’s comprehensive Home Save approach that includes individual counseling and development of a documented Affordability Budget.  NACA works with Countrywide borrowers who come to NACA for assistance, beginning with submitting their information on the NACA website at www.naca.com.  NACA develops a plan to save their homes and submits it to Countrywide for implementation.  The Countrywide agreement has already had a huge impact with homeowners having their loans restructured to as low as five percent.

U.S. Rep. Al Green, (D) TX asked the expert panel dealing with the mortgage meltdown if the NACA-Countrywide Agreement was the best option and one that other lenders should follow. Everyone on the panel, including members of the Hope Now initiative, agreed.

Homeowners save their homes with an affordable long-term payment without added fees and investors get a return without having to go through the expensive route and devastation of foreclosure.  “This is the most effective solution to the subprime lending crisis,” said NACA CEO Bruce Marks.  “It’s not only revolutionary…but given the circumstances it’s a win-win for all parties and provides the best opportunity to maintain stable neighborhoods and avoid a recession.”

Marks told the committee he would share the NACA process with other non-profits as Congress begins to put pressure on lenders to adopt the NACA-Countrywide standard aimed at saving tens of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure.