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NeighborWorks Week 2010: Local Coverage

Ohio NeighborWorks Groups Launch First Statewide Anti-Scam Initiative: Reaches Two Million People

Eight Ohio NeighborWorks organizations joined together for the first ever Ohio Alert! Day – a statewide initiative to send a warning to local homeowners about mortgage rescue scams plaguing Ohio. By all counts, the event was a tremendous success. Media turned out in droves to cover the event, with over 31 TV hits and newspaper and radio coverage in every location. Estimates put the number of impressions at well over two million and the publicity value of the coverage at close to $100,00 .

Affordable housing non-profits in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Ravenna, Akron, Springfield, Dayton, and Toledo partnered together on Wednesday, June 9 to educate Ohio homeowners about common mortgage rescue scams to watch out for, give tips on how to avoid scams, how to report a scammer to the attorney general’s office, and where Ohio homeowners can access trusted mortgage mediation help from a HUD-certified housing counselor.

The groups are part of the NeighborWorks America Collaborative of Ohio, created to reach more families in need across the state. The Collaborative operates the only statewide foreclosure rescue fund in the nation.

“Predators pick on people who are and feel vulnerable,” Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said. “If you have 90,000 people in Ohio potentially losing their homes and many others worried about losing their homes, that’s a very ripe target for foreclosure-rescue scams.”

Participating NeighborWorks America organizations hosted a variety of activities, including going door-to-door to alert homeowners in at-risk neighborhoods to the threat of scam activities, distributing information in front of local grocery stores, partnering with local restaurants to attach scam alerts to pizza boxes, setting up information booths in the middle of downtown, and holding press conferences.

“The foreclosure crisis has created a breeding ground for crime,” said Great Lakes district director Paul Poston. “Scammers will stop at nothing to reach vulnerable homeowners by posing as housing counselors, speaking their native language, even joining their faith-based organizations to prey on them when their guard is down. The need for NeighborWorks organizations has never been greater as struggling homeowners try to navigate this fragile housing landscape to find help they can trust. We’re sending a message that the only foreclosure help homeowners can rely on is from a HUD-certified housing counselor.”

The NeighborWorks Collaborative of Ohio will next follow-up with an op-ed campaign across the state, continuing their work to put an end to loan scams in Ohio.

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