Housing Counseling
Margert Community Corporation is a New York State
Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR)
Neighborhood Preservation Company, and a
HUD approved housing counseling agency, providing comprehensive assistance
to persons who want to rent, buy or already own a home, and who seek to be
responsible renters, buyers and owners.
View Margert's
HUD
Comprehensive Housing Counseling Approval certification.
DHCR Neighborhood Preservation Companies Program (NPP)
The Division of Housing and Community Renewal
provides financial support for not-for-profit community-based housing
corporations to perform housing and community renewal activities statewide.
These corporations, known as Preservation Companies, provide assistance
including, but are not limited to, housing rehabilitation,
home buyer
counseling, tenant counseling, landlord/tenant mediation, community
rehabilitation and renewal, crime watch programs, employment programs, and
legal assistance. A majority of preservation companies are also involved in
the planning and development of capital projects including new construction
and /or rehabilitation of older housing stock. Companies perform this work
with the assistance of DHCR administrative funds and leveraged funds from
the private sector and other governmental sources.
Preservation Companies are located in most areas of the state and
primarily serve low- and moderate-income residents. Preservation Companies
are required to serve areas where there are significant unmet housing needs
for the low-income population.
DHCR Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Services Program
If you are late in paying your mortgage or concerned about future ability to
pay, Margert can help.
Margert is a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency that provides
foreclosure prevention counseling to borrowers in distress. Homeowners who
are facing default or have already defaulted on a mortgage may speak with a
counselor or set up a counseling session to determine their options.
Assistance is provided free of charge through the NYS DHCR Subprime
Foreclosure Prevention Services Program.
Margert has partnered with the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy
Project (NEDAP) in
Brooklyn and Queens with a full spectrum of education, outreach, and
counseling services to help them avoid foreclosure.
Through a collaborative arrangement, homeowners in need of legal services
will be referred
to South Brooklyn Legal Services, Queens Legal Aid, and Queens Legal
Services for the Elderly.
For immediate assistance please contact our
intake staff.
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HUD Housing Counseling
Program
This program supports the delivery of a wide variety of
housing counseling services to homebuyers,
homeowners, low- to moderate-income
renters, and the
homeless. The primary objectives of the program are to expand homeownership
opportunities, improve access to affordable housing and preserve homeownership.
Counselors provide guidance and information to help
families and individuals improve their housing conditions and meet the
responsibilities of tenancy and homeownership. Counselors also help borrowers
avoid inflated appraisals, unreasonably high interest rates, unaffordable
repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity,
increased debt, default, and eventually foreclosure.
Additionally, counselors may provide counseling services to
homeowners to prevent or resolve mortgage delinquency, default, and foreclosure,
with the primary objective to preserve homeownership. Counselors provide
guidance and advice to help families and individuals meet the responsibilities
of homeownership and modify or refinance their loans to avoid unreasonably high
interest rates, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can
result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and eventually foreclosure.
Margert's HUD Housing Counseling Program enables anyone who wants to (or already does) rent or own
housing - whether through a HUD program, a Veterans Affairs program, other
Federal programs, a State or local program, or the regular private market - to
get the counseling they need to make their rent or mortgage payments and to be a
responsible tenant or owner in other ways.
Margert also provides Reverse
Mortgage Counseling to elderly homeowners who seek to convert equity in
their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical
costs, living expenses, or other expenses. (Please Note:
Direct HECM counseling is NOT currently available through Margert, but we can
provide a high quality referral.)
Margert is
a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.
Counseling agencies are required to provide a copy of their Code of Conduct
prior to entering into a grant agreement with HUD. Grantees who have a
Code of Conduct on file are listed on HUD's website.
View
Margert's Code of Ethics and Conduct for housing counseling professionals.
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Mortgage Modification and Mortgage Scams
Assistance (MMMSA)
The HUD MMMSA supports the delivery of housing counseling services to
homeowners to prevent or resolve mortgage delinquency, default, and foreclosure,
with the primary objective to preserve homeownership.
Margert's counselors will provide guidance and advice to assist families
and individuals meet the responsibilities of homeownership and modify or
refinance their loans to avoid unreasonably high interest rates, unaffordable
repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity,
increased debt, default and eventually foreclosure.
Counselors will also assist homeowners with inquiries related to mortgage
scams, and reporting instances of potential mortgage scams victimization.
For immediate assistance please contact our
intake staff.
The
Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network (LMSPN) was created to strengthen
the fight against mortgage scammers and support existing efforts at the
national, state and local levels.
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NYC
HPD Housing Preservation and Anti-Predatory Lending Initiatives
Under these city-funded
initiatives, Margert has strengthened its anti-predatory lending and mortgage
foreclosure prevention activities and increased its capacity to assist borrowers
facing foreclosure. We also focus on the immediate threat to our affordable
rental housing environment posed by the increasing number of unexpected mortgage
foreclosures.
Agency staff pursues a
collaborative effort bring together the three key elements needed to combat
predatory lending and prevent foreclosure – preventative education, financial
and loan counseling, and loan and legal remediation – in a structured approach
leveraged against our existing programs, services and partnerships.
Freddie Mac's
Don't Borrow Trouble®
is the first comprehensive consumer awareness campaign of its kind, combining
public education and counseling services to help homeowners avoid lending
practices that strip away their home's equity.
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Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)
HEAP helps low-income
homeowners and renters pay bills for heating fuel, equipment and repairs. HEAP
grants are $40 to $440 a year.
Call Margert's HEAP Desk telephone number for assistance: 718-471-3702 Project Warmth, Long Island's Emergency
Heating Fund
Project Warmth was able to assist more than 1,600 families to stay warm last
winter, helping them to focus on other pressing needs of their loved ones.
Applicant must have residency in Nassau County, Suffolk County or the Rockaway
area in Queens (LIPA service area).
On Track Program
National Grid administers
On Track to provide financial assistance and education for low-income
customers. On Track works with low-income National Grid heating
customers to help them resolve financial difficulties.
NYS
DHCR Region of
Service: Far Rockaway, Queens HUD
Housing Counseling Program Regions of Service: All NYC & Long Island
NYC
HPD Region of Service: Southeast Queens and the Rockaways
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