Help is available for laid-off homeowners

Mathis Winkler

Friday, Jan. 4, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

Owning a home had been Adan Luna's dream. It became reality when the 24-year-old North Las Vegas resident bought a house in the city's downtown area two years ago.

There, he could finally invite friends for barbecue parties in his back yard without upsetting the neighbors. Little by little, he began fixing up the place, building a brick-and-iron fence around the front yard and setting up a gym in the garage.

The $664 in monthly mortgage payments also didn't hurt Luna, who was making $14 an hour as a slot-machine technician at the MGM Grand.

"I was good with my bills," he said. "I was on track with everything."

Things changed when Luna lost his job two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, along with more than 15,000 others in the Las Vegas Valley.

While many laid-off workers needed -- and received -- rental assistance from charities and governmental agencies, homeowners such as Luna had less luck.

That's because renters were more likely to get evicted and become homeless immediately, while it usually takes at least three months of missed mortgage payments before lenders begin foreclosure proceedings that put people at risk of losing their homes.

But now, almost four months later, homeowners are beginning to call for help as well, said officials at organizations that offer assistance with home ownership.

"We've seen a 15 percent increase," said Angela Quinn, who administers the housing division of the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County.

Quinn said her organization has been helping people to work out payment schedules with their lenders. That's pretty much the only help available so far, although Catholic Charities has assisted about 21 families with mortgage payments.

More financial help could come from the federal government, which has set aside $1.75 million for laid-off workers in Las Vegas. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Mayor Oscar Goodman announced the help at a press conference in Las Vegas this morning.

While a large chunk of the money will be used for job training, city officials said they hope to help homeowners as well.

"We recognize that there is a need for helping people with housing," said Assistant City Manager Betsy Fretwell, adding that city officials still have to figure out how they can use the money.

Back in North Las Vegas, Luna said he's hoping to work things out with his lenders.

"Just because they lay you off, that doesn't mean it's the end of the world," he said. "You have to keep trying."

When he lost his job, Luna first tried to get a high-interest loan to pay his bills. But Jean McGuire, a counselor at Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada, Inc., managed to stop him from doing so.

"He was really desperate, but he kind of calmed down for me a little bit," said McGuire, adding that she wanted to make sure Luna would not fall for a loan shark and get stuck with more problems.

"I was just worried," said McGuire. "People get desperate and do something that won't help them in the long-run. They shouldn't panic but (should) get to the right source where people can assist them."

Luna asked his mortgage lender to increase future payments or tack the ones he missed onto the end of his 30-year loan.

Since he found a temporary job installing slot machines, which pays about $10 an hour, he said he's convinced that he can keep his house if the lender agrees to cooperate. He hopes to find out soon whether his application has been approved, Luna said.

"If we can get into a settlement, then yeah, I can keep it up," he said. "Because I've recovered."