A recent report discusses a combined initiative between Countrywide Financial Corporation and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to reach the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina that have yet to make contact with their mortgage company.

Countrywide Joins ACORN Initiative to Locate Hurricane-Displaced Homeowners

More than six months after Hurricane Katrina, thousands of displaced Gulf Coast homeowners still have not contacted their mortgage lender to discuss their options for postponement of payments and other steps toward personal recovery.

Now, with financial support from Countrywide Financial Corporation, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has launched a telephone and door-to-door campaign to find evacuees and put them in touch with their lender, whether it is Countrywide or another company. The program was announced on Wednesday in Houston, one of several cities with a high presence of hurricane evacuees. Others included in the program include Dallas, San Antonio, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The canvassing follows a series of newspaper ads that Countrywide placed last month in newspapers in affected communities across the Gulf Coast states. The ads encouraged Countrywide customers to call the lender, and also listed the ACORN Housing Helpline as an intermediary for customers of other mortgage companies to contact their lenders.

"Countrywide and other mortgage lenders have provided significant assistance to our customers affected by the storms, including suspending mortgage payments and credit reporting," said Michael Gross, Managing Director of Mortgage Servicing for Countrywide. "However, despite our best efforts to reach them, there are still a number of customers who we have been unable to reach, limiting our ability to provide assistance to them.

"ACORN has the proven ability to organize and mobilize its membership for community outreach, and we are pleased to support them in this all-out effort to reach hurricane victims and put them in contact with their lender," Gross said.

"ACORN Housing has been able to assist almost all the Katrina Survivors we have worked with in making arrangements with their lender to protect their home and their finances," said Dorothy Stukes, president of the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association. "But everyone needs to get in contact with their lender or ACORN Housing as soon as possible -- and we are going to go out in the community to make sure as many people as possible know they need to act now."

In accordance with the guidelines established by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD and other entities who own or insure mortgages, Countrywide will continue to offer postponed payments and other assistance to customers in the most devastated areas whose homes remain uninhabitable or who are unable to work. The majority of Countrywide's customers affected by the hurricanes have already contacted the lender to be considered for various forms of assistance including postponement of monthly payments, repayment plans, loan modifications or loan reinstatement. Other lenders are taking similar measures. But no help is available to homeowners who don't contact their lender, and more than six months after Katrina, time is of the essence for those homeowners.

To view the full report please click on the following link.

Countrywide Joins ACORN Initiative to Locate Hurricane-Displaced Homeowners