American Homeowner Preservation (AHP) commemorated its third year in Cincinnati with a brief gathering at the Roselawn offices.
AHP administers a novel foreclosure prevention program providing long-term solutions to families at risk of foreclosure. Originally a 501c3 nonprofit organization when the offices were opened in May 2008, AHP transitioned to a for-profit entity in July 2009.
AHP has successfully arranged almost 150 short sale leasebacks in which investors purchased the homes of families in distress and provided the families affordable leases and favorable repurchase options to stay in their homes.
Monthly housing payments are reduced by an average of 40 percent and families can repurchase at prices averaging less than half their prior mortgage balances.
AHP has assisted families in Ohio, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin.
In order to expand their program, AHP has recently began acquiring pools of defaulted mortgages and occupied REOs from banks and other lenders, and then offering AHP’s program to the borrowers who want to stay in their homes.
“AHP’s growth has been constrained by the slow, inefficient and frequently unsuccessful short sale process which many servicers offer,” said AHP Director Jorge Newbery.
“However, by buying pools of nonperforming mortgages, we remove the servicers from the equation and can expeditiously craft solutions to keep families in their homes,” Newbery said. “We are encouraged by the opportunities which are unfolding and look forward to many more years in Cincinnati.”
Ohio ranks with the 11th highest state foreclosure rate in the nation with one in every 486 Ohio housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in November 2010, according to Realty Trac.
In addition, 21.6percent of the 2,200,773 mortgages in Ohio are secured by homes worth less than the mortgages, according to Core Logic’s 2010 Negative Equity Report.
AHP charges no fees to homeowners. Families seeking assistance can visit www.ahphelp.com or call 800-555-1055.