AARP Foundation Announces the Launch of Bilingual Housing Solutions Center
Housing Solutions Center connects 50+ at-risk homeowners to free HUD-certified counseling through toll free number
Washington, DC – February 21, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — AARP Foundation, in an effort to help seniors avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes, is launching a bilingual Housing Solutions Center help line that connects at-risk homeowners over the age of 50 to free HUD-certified counseling, resources and education. Millions of older Americans are carrying more mortgage debt than ever before. From 2007 to 2011, more than 1.5 million older Americans lost their homes as a result of the mortgage crisis and more than three million are at risk today of losing their homes.
Higher housing cost burdens are threatening older Americans’ ability to maintain their lifestyles and save for the future. According to a report released by the AARP Public Policy Institute, many older middle-class households are spending 30 percent or more of their income on housing costs.
As of December 2011, approximately 3.5 million loans of people age 50+ were underwater; 600,000 loans of people age 50+ were in foreclosure, and another 625,000 loans were 90 or more days delinquent.
“AARP Foundation recognizes as people age, their need for safe and affordable housing grows more critical. Yet today, approximately 13 million low-income 50+ households in America cannot afford their housing costs and/or live in inadequate housing.” Said Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP Foundation President. “The goal of AARP Foundation’s Housing Solutions Center is to address the most critical needs of these households and provide the tools to help them stay in their homes.”
Free foreclosure prevention counseling, provided by CredAbility, is available toll free at (855) 850-2525. To prepare for a foreclosure prevention session, AARP Foundation has listed all the documents that will be helpful for when speaking to the HUD-certified counselor over the phone at: www.aarp.org/housingsolutionscenter and in Spanish at: www.aarp.org/vivienda
About AARP Foundation
AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the Foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people, work more efficiently and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is AARP’s affiliated charity. Learn more at www.aarpfoundation.org
