Recently, a single parent was able to buy a single-family house in Garfield East for just $130,000, much lower than the $224,000 price of the house in 2007.

Because of unemployment, declining incomes and sharp drops in home values, many homeowners have not been able to keep their homes from going into foreclosure.

According to the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, Willingboro had the biggest number of foreclosure properties so far in 2009 compared to neighboring Camden and Burlington. Willingboro, with a high number of lower-income families, had 330 foreclosures over the seven-month period from January through July.

Second in number of foreclosures was Gloucester Township, with 323 foreclosures, and third was Winslow, with 298 foreclosures. Camden had 256 foreclosed units and Washington Township had 206. Gloucester, Winslow and Washington Township all have higher income levels than Willingboro.

With these foreclosures, families and individuals working in nearby New York City and Philadelphia can buy repo homes for sale in South Jersey.

The administrative office said it has not gathered official foreclosure figures for the past two months, but it said that foreclosure filings across New Jersey for the period January to July have increased compared to foreclosure postings during the same period last year.

The office also said that the biggest number of foreclosure filings was reached in June when 6,133 foreclosure cases were filed. Among the three counties, Camden posted the biggest number for the seven-month period ended July, with more than 2,200 filings. Burlington County was second, with nearly 2,000 filings, and Gloucester County was third, with more than 1,300 filings. Camden was the most populated among the three counties.

Kevin Wolfe, a top officer at the Trenton court administrative office, said that the major factors for foreclosure in New Jersey are unemployment, high number of subprime loans and inability to refinance because of dropping home values.

According to John Worrall, economist at Rutgers University, the unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent in the area has been driving foreclosures in New Jersey, giving more opportunities for investors and families to buy repo homes for sale at auctions in the area.

Buy Repo Homes for Sale in the Southern Areas of New Jersey is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for house auctions for sale.

But despite the various foreclosure prevention programs in place, why are so many homeowners still going into foreclosure and fall victims to fraudulent foreclosure prevention schemes? One of the reasons pointed out by industry analysts is the unawareness of distressed homeowners about the existence of free programs that could help them avoid house repossession.

New Jersey’s Cape May County Advisory Committee on the Status of Women aims to remedy this problem of lack of awareness of the available free foreclosure prevention programs. The agency has made it a mission to disseminate information about the available free help to people who need foreclosure prevention and financial assistance.

Members of the commission met with Atlantic County Sheriff’s Department’s Chief of Staff Stephen L. Jackson to discuss the available programs for homeowners before and during foreclosure proceedings.

Commission chairwoman Kathy Bresan said that her agency will disseminate information about the free help provided by the state to distressed homeowners before the bank foreclose on their properties. She explained that once banks foreclosed on houses, it is a little late to get any help. She added that the available programs are designed to help homeowners who are in trouble and not those whose houses have been foreclosed.

Some programs that are available for free to distressed homeowners at risk of foreclosures are the NJHMFA Mortgage Assistance Pilot, an initiative that provides financial assistance for mortgage payments and utility bills such as sewer, property taxes and water and condominium association fee, and the Mortgage Stabilization Program which encourages mortgage servicers to refinance or modify eligible troubled loans into affordable payments.

Additionally, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Universal Service Fund and NJ Shares are programs that give alternative assistance to homeowners while they are paying their mortgage.

There is also the New Jersey Foreclosure Mediation Program that provides free mediation and counseling for homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure.

In Cape May County, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency had partnered with Atlantic Human Resources and Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling and AHOME to provide foreclosure mediation.

Free Help to Avoid House Repossession in New Jersey is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for house auctions for sale.

To address this problem, the state government has launched three foreclosure prevention programs where residents can choose from.

One of the three programs is the mediation for homeowners troubled by foreclosure. With the help of a middle person, borrowers and lenders can more easily reach an agreement and settle conflicts early on, giving homeowners bigger chance of keeping their property.

Approximately 16,600 residents are expected to subscribe to the mediation program.

As for the two other programs, they have already been signed and the guidelines are currently being made. The programs are expected to start in spring.

One of the two programs is the Mortgage Stabilization Program. When implemented, the program shall let homeowners apply for loans of as much as $25,000 so that their mortgage payments are decreased to levels that they can afford. The program only applies to residents who are below income limits.

Another program is the Housing Assistance and Recovery Program. Under this, owners of repossessed properties have the option to stay in their home as renters until they are eventually able to buy their properties back, provided that they pay rent regularly.

To support the three programs, the state has allotted a separate budget for them. The mortgage stabilization program has been allocated with $25 million. The housing assistance and recovery program, on the other hand, has $15 million to expect.

The housing crisis has shown no signs of waning anytime soon and figures are expected to rise. For 2009, 60,000 homes are expected to fall to foreclosure, whereas last year, there was a lower estimate of 48,000 properties. The three programs are hoped to cut the expected number of foreclosure cases to half.

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Foreclosure Prevention Programs Offered in New Jersey is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for house auctions for sale.