Two NYC Groups Receive Funds to Offer Counseling to Homeowners

The ""New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal"":http://housing.ny.gov/ on Wednesday awarded $848,384 to the ""Center for New York City Neighborhoods"":http://www.cnycn.org/ (CNYCN) and the ""New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Office of Financial Empowerment"":http://www.nyc.gov/html/ofe/html/home/home.shtml (DCA's OFE).

The money has been allotted to provide free financial counseling and to expand CNYCN's call center operations for at risk homeowners, which takes calls from New York City's general information line.

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DCA's OFE Financial Empowerment Center will be placed within the CNYCN Network of housing counseling agencies and will work alongside HUD-certified experts to provide counseling to at risk homeowners in New York City.

""Since its inception in early 2009, CNYCN's Call Center has communicated with over 10,000 homeowners through incoming calls, outreach calls and mailings, directing them to free housing counseling and legal services provided by over 70 organizations located in all five boroughs,"" said Michael Hickey, Executive Director of CNYCN, in a press statement.

Hickey continued, ""By providing New Yorkers with the ‘gold standard' of financial education â€"one on one financial counseling- in concert with the foreclosure prevention services already offered by CNYCN, we will be able to arm clients with the tools and resources necessary to address all components of their financial picture.""

The DCA's OFE provides financial counseling in English, Spanish and Chinese. The department will work alongside the CNYCN to help homeowners who have received trial mortgage modifications to develop a plan to manage their finances in a way that allows them to make their payments on time and reduce their debt.