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Foreclosure seminars in Elyria, Avon Lake

Benjamin Nagy

Jason Hawk

The Chronicle-Telegram

ELYRIA — Worried about losing your house? Help is here.

This week, seminars in Avon Lake and Elyria will put homeowners in touch with financial experts about ways to avoid foreclosure.

The big F-word is a scary one in Lorain County, where a record 2,243 foreclosures were filed with Clerk of Courts Ron Nabakowski’s office in 2007, up 15.6 percent in a year.

“People don’t understand the kind of misery this is bringing,” Nabakowski said Tuesday. “Recently, it’s been pretty evident the kind of damage it’s doing. Schools are going to feel it, homeowners are going to feel it, and the body politic is going to feel it.”

Lorain and Elyria had a combined 1,264 foreclosures, and almost every city in the county saw an increase last year.

Nabakowski said upscale communities were hit the worst. Avon Lake had a 38 percent jump, Avon saw a 34 percent rise and Amherst numbers increased 33 percent.

In Sheffield Lake, 1 of every 29 houses has been foreclosed, he said.

Attorneys Tom McGuire and James Boyle from the Ohio attorney general’s office will join Nabakowski in the hardest-hit city, Avon Lake, at

6 p.m. today, taking about two hours to speak at the Lake House, 32756 Lake Road.

McGuire and Boyle will discuss which programs are available for foreclosure prevention and relief, and Nabakowski will talk about how the foreclosure crisis is affecting the county.

They’ll also talk about predatory lending and scams targeting seniors, plus inflation, balloon payments and unreasonable contracts, said Avon Lake Councilman David Kos, who works for the attorney general’s Cleveland office and organized the event.

There also will be one-on-one time for the public to talk with McGuire and Boyle, Kos said.

A second seminar will be

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Lorain County Community College in Elyria. That’s being hosted by the Lorain County Foreclosure Task Force.

Nabakowski started the task force eight months ago, and it has grown to about 60 members concerned about the foreclosure crisis, member Craig Montgomery said.

“We want to help the residents and provide them with any assistance possible to help solve problems. A lot of time people just don’t know where to turn, or who to call to get information,” Montgomery said. “We’re hoping that if someone’s in trouble, we can get involved and handle it for them.”

Montgomery said foreclosure is an epidemic sending ripples through Ohio’s economy — recession, decreasing property values, scams and credit problems.

Counselors will be available Saturday at the college to talk with the public about many of those issues and give advice, he said. Mortgage lenders, creditors and banks will also be there to help sort out individual financial problems and several local attorneys have agreed to give pro bono help to those in need.

The Lorain County Foreclosure Task Force meets once a month at the county administration building on Broad Street in Elyria. To get involved, call Nabakowski or Kate Lentz at the clerk of courts office, (440) 329-5556.

Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.

 

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Filed by Benjamin Nagy March 11th, 2008 in Local and State.


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