Fending off foreclosures

Heartland Community Action Agency is now offering foreclosure prevention counseling to anyone worried about keeping up with mortgage payments.

Rhonda Otteson, a foreclosure counselor with Heartland, said foreclosures across Minnesota nearly doubled from 2006 to 2007. Otteson said statewide foreclosures in 2006 totaled about 11,000. In 2007, there were about 20,000 foreclosures and 2008 will likely total 28,000. “My understanding is McLeod County is getting hit pretty hard,” she said.

Otteson said the sooner people call for help, the more options they have to avoid foreclosure. Along with one-on-one counseling, available by appointment by calling (800) 992-1710, Heartland will soon schedule borrower workshops for people with questions about their home loans.

Also, the agency plans to invite community leaders to breakfast meetings in July, to discuss the scope of the foreclosure problem and ways to battle it.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)