State-run program helping people stay in their homes through loan modifications

By Conor Shine

Thursday, June 6, 2013 | 3:38 p.m.

When she received a telephone call earlier this year offering to help her refinance her underwater mortgage for $4,500, Lola Orbik was skeptical.

But three years of trying and failing to save her three-bedroom townhouse in Henderson – an odyssey that included five applications for a loan modification being rejected by her bank – left Orvik near foreclosure and desperate for a solution.

She called the state Attorney General’s office to verify the company offering the too-good-to-be-true solution. It was a scam, she was told, but before she could hang up she was referred to a new program meant to help struggling homeowners like herself.

After a 45-minute conversation with a housing counselor, Orvik faxed 95 pages of documents to Home Again, a state-run program to assist homeowners.

Orvik didn’t hear back until five weeks later, when she received a call from her bank; her loan amount had been reduced by $37,000 and her interest rate slashed from 5.7 percent to 2 percent.

Thanks to the loan modification, the 70-year-old Orvik was able to keep the house that she’s lived in for 19 years and on Thursday, she shared her story to encourage others to call Home Again.

“What I’m doing these days is housecleaning. These people have given me a house to clean,” she said. “I almost didn’t have a roof over my head. I can’t say thank you enough. You have given me hope and more importantly, you’ve given me my life back.”

Orvik’s story was shared as part of an event to promote Home Again, which was launched in January of this year using funds received as part of the $1.8 billion mortgage settlement the state received from five large banks.

Home Again draws together nine certified housing agencies in Nevada under one umbrella and serves as a single point of contact for homeowners to learn about state and federal programs that can help them avoid foreclosure.

The program has received 10,000 calls from consumers, 3,000 of which resulted in one-on-one counseling sessions being scheduled.

The Attorney General’s office is looking to expand awareness about the program and received a boost Wednesday when Las Vegas awarded $100,000 in grants to advertise Home Again on billboards and bus stops.

“This is a program that is set up to bring homeowners in and help them figure out what they might be eligible for to help save their home,” Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.

Homeowners who call Home Again will go through a brief intake process before being scheduled for an in-person session with a certified housing counselor at one of the participating nonprofit housing agencies. The counselor is able to help with everything from loan modifications to credit restoration and can help prepare applications for eligible state and federal programs. The organization also offers referrals for legal services, financial literacy classes and information for prospective homebuyers.

All services offered by Home Again are free, and Cortez Masto warned consumers about any companies requesting a fee to help with loan modifications or other transactions.

“We are still seeing vulnerable people who are reaching out for that last life line to seek assistance with their home and are being defrauded by individuals who prey on them,” she said.

To contact Home Again, call 855-457-4638 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.