Freddie Mac, Feds Bring 'Borrower Help Center' To Assist Detroiters With Mortgages
DETROIT (WWJ) -- Detroit homeowners who are behind in their mortgages are getting some new help from the federal government as announced on Monday.
The NID Housing Counseling Agency Freddie Mac Borrower Help Center opened on Livernois in the Bagley neighborhood on Monday, one of only 12 such locations in the country.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the branch is one of the necessary tools needed to bring the city back.
"This is another step in the right direction of making it easier for people to understand what you can do to get help if you're underwater on your mortgage," Duggan said. "Keeping people in their homes is an important step in this city and I think the federal government helped with that,"
Duggan said he is in talks with Freddie Mac and Chase Bank to make an imprint on the city.
"People were given mortgages they couldn't afford," Duggan said. " Now we're at the other extreme -- people can't get mortgages that they clearly ought to be able to afford."
Duggan added that national data shows in 2012 only 500 mortgages were issued in the city of Detroit.