RALEIGH, N.C. — State Employees Credit Union here is lending its hand, and its money, in the struggle against foreclosure across the state.
The 1.5-million-member institution teamed with the Center for Responsible lending, the state's banking commissioner and the Capital Broadcasting Corporation to promote the "Fight NC Foreclosure" campaign dedicated to educating the public on the foreclosure epidemic. SECU put up $50,000 for televised public service announcements and to build a strong presence on a Triangle area news station's website.
"Our members very much view us as a trusted provider of financial services; it's very important for us to get out in front of them and say we are in support of this campaign," said SVP Leigh Brady. "It's very important we help our communities in North Carolina as well and this plays a bit part in that. Word of mouth advertising is the very best advertising. For our members and other North Carolinians to see that (we) really care - that goes a long way."
Though not one of the "sand states," North Carolina still sees foreclosure as a major concern as one in every 12 mortgage holders here could face foreclosure between now and 2012, according to a Center for Responsible Lending estimate. The SECU sponsored PSAs highlight the State Home Foreclosure Prevention Project, an educational program that helps homeowners understand where to go for help and what can be done to get them out of their situations. The project also warns consumers to be on the lookout for foreclosure scams; popular schemes include promising desperate homeowners that they can provide a loan modification in exchange for an upfront fee, but those mods never materialize.
"Right now the (state attorney general's) office has taken action against 130 foreclosure assistance scams since January 2008. It's pretty bad," Brady noted.
Though SECU never dealt in subprime mortgages, Brady noted the CU started addressing potential problems several years ago. The credit union worked with Equifax to try to determine which of its members could be involved with those products at other institutions and sent them letters telling them how they could get out of potential trouble.
For its part, most of what SECU deals with when it comes to mortgage problems revolves around job loss as the state's unemployment rate is well above the national average - higher than 11%. The CU has been aggressive in its attempts to solve these issues, Brady said, as the last thing it wants is to take possession of the property and make another domino fall in the real estate market. "There are a ton of options (in the MAP), anything from mortgage extensions to partial payments; in some cases we have to do a short sale or deed in lieu but those are rare," she added.
