AVOID FORECLOSURE, GET FINANCIAL COUNSELING
Review Proves Long-Term Benefits of Professional Assistance

December 10, 2003 – Does financial counseling keep struggling Americans from losing their homes and declaring bankruptcy? According to Self-Help Credit Union, the answer is a resounding "yes."

The conclusion came from data collected from a collaboration between Consumer Credit Counseling Service of San Francisco (CCCS-SF), a non-profit credit counseling agency, and Self Help Credit Union, a North Carolina based community development lender. The partnership was created to help homeowners who are in financial crisis avoid foreclosure by providing them with emergency money management and housing counseling.

From August 2002 through September 2003, Self-Help referred 618 families whose mortgage payments were over forty-five days late to CCCS-SF. Those homeowners who participated in the program received immediate counseling sessions that focused on their goal of remaining in their home.

Self-Help conducted a loan performance review and the results were impressive: 90% of the borrowers who received counseling had retained their homes and only 10% had gone to foreclosure or filed bankruptcy.

Gaining empirical evidence of financial counseling's long-term benefits is "exciting," said Rick Harper, Vice President of CCCS-SF, after hearing the results of the review. "It is rewarding to be certain that our program assists homeowners – both those who already own and those who want to keep their homes out of foreclosure."

CCCS-SF has a thirty-four year history of helping Americans manage their money, repay debt, and achieve and maintain homeownership. Self-Help reaches people who are underserved by conventional lenders – particularly minorities, women, rural residents, and low-wealth families through the support of socially responsible citizens and institutions across the U.S.