Locals fight foreclosure head on

By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

January 08, 2009 09:07 pm

— ANDERSON — For the past 23 years, Bill Trueblood and his wife, Mildred, have made their mortgage payments on time, without interruption. Things seemed to be going well, and the Truebloods of Kokomo, who are now great-grandparents, thought they were close to paying the home off.
Three years ago, things changed.
A heart surgery and mounting medical bills put pressure on the Truebloods’ fixed income, and they began struggling financially.
“We’re just not being able to keep up like we’d like to,” Bill Trueblood said.
On Thursday, the couple traveled to Anderson, where the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network offered a foreclosure prevention workshop in cooperation with Ivy Tech Community College.
The event, which brought homeowners face-to-face with six major lenders and various housing counselors, offered homeowners a chance to find their way out of foreclosure.
“The lady was real helpful,” Trueblood said.
After talking with lenders and listening to financial advice, the Truebloods said they left feeling hopeful about their future, confident that they’d be able to keep the home they’d lived in for 26 years.
Mike DeAgostino, who conducted exit interviews as homeowners finished counseling and workshop sessions, said one theme kept reappearing: “It’s the economy.”
DeAgostino said he heard stories of hours being cut at work, gas prices making commutes difficult and homeowners losing their jobs because of businesses struggling in the weak economy.
Mike Pickrell of Ivy Tech said Anderson was an appropriate host for the event.
“The community has been hard hit,” Pickrell said. “It makes sense to bring IFPN here.”
Representatives from the United Way, JobSource, the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, Community Access Network, Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and AARP were also in attendance, he said.
Jane and Keith Betteridge of Anderson attended the event in hopes of staving off foreclosure as the sudden turn of the economy continues to wreak havoc on their income.
The Betteridges, who own their own company, say things turned south four months ago when the markets plummeted.
“The economy has hit our clientele,” Keith Betteridge said. “Their drop in income has resulted in a drop in our income.”
Betteridge said he left feeling equipped with the information to turn things around, but said the challenges his family and others are facing are far from minor.
“It’s more than a bump in the road,” he said.

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