Springboard Assists Federal Reserve Bank with Community Response to Rising Mortgage Woes

Riverside, CA (PRWEB) July 5, 2007

Todd Emerson, president and chief executive officer for Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management, was a featured panelist in a discussion on mortgage default and foreclosure sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The panels met in June in San Diego and Los Angeles, California, to discuss community impact and response to recent crisis within the mortgage industry. Springboard provides counseling for consumers who are at risk of mortgage default or in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Mr. Emerson spoke on the impact of mortgage default on the community, with an emphasis on the types of counseling consumers require, tools and resources that can help both consumers and counselors better address default and foreclosure issues, and possible next steps for training and educating borrowers and counselors on default and foreclosure prevention. The meetings in Los Angeles and San Diego were part of a six-city event sponsored by the Community Affairs Office of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision; also participating in Los Angeles was the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Panel discussions were held in California, Arizona and Nevada on the topic of "Preserving Homeownership - Preserving Communities". These discussions brought together community housing and fair housing services, counseling agencies, national mortgage lenders/servicers, and a statewide foreclosure prevention task force to explore default and foreclosure demographics and consumer needs, best practices in foreclosure prevention and remedies available to cover loan losses.

"I'm honored to have been asked to participate, and Springboard applauds the efforts of the sponsors to involve lenders, mortgage servicers, counselors, and community leaders in helping to find collaborative solutions to this issue," said Emerson. "Default and foreclosure affect not only consumers, but community stability as well, and we all have a stake in keeping our communities strong and healthy."

Springboard has been educating consumers on money and debt issues since 1974. They offer free confidential counseling and education to consumers nationwide. For more information on their services, or to talk to a counselor, call 800-WISE PLAN (800-947-3752), or visit http://www.credit.org.

About Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management
Springboard is a nonprofit credit education and financial counseling organization founded in 1974. The agency offers personal financial education and assistance with money, credit and debt management through confidential counseling. Springboard is accredited by the Council on Accreditation, signifying the highest standards for agency governance, fiscal integrity, counselor certification and service delivery policies. The agency provides pre-bankruptcy credit counseling and debtor education as mandated by the bankruptcy reform law. Springboard is a HUD approved housing counseling agency and a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a national organization of nonprofit credit counseling agencies. The agency has several locations in California and offers face-to-face and nationwide phone counseling services. For more information on Springboard, call 1-800 WISE PLAN (1-800-947-3752) or visit their web site at http://www.credit.org

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