Oregon Public Broadcasting

Help is a phone call away for Northwest residents facing foreclosure. Two toll-free numbers are now available. One is a national hotline. The other is for Washington State residents.  That one became active over the weekend. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has more.

Housing experts say too often people who get behind on their mortgage don’t seek help until it’s too late.

The new Washington State hotline and the national program work the same way. They connect callers to approved counselors at non-profit organizations like the Urban League of Seattle.

Dee Taylor is with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. She says there are counseling agencies out there that are scams.

Dee Taylor: “And we want to make sure that borrowers in trouble don’t reach one of those folks. It’s just important that they get accurate information and they don’t get another scam and make things twice as bad as the situation they’re already in.”

The Washington State counseling program is also open to people thinking about buying a home.

Northwest states have not been hit as hard by the collapse of the housing market as other states. But the jump in foreclosure rates has drawn legislative attention in both Oregon and Washington.

The number to call in Washington is 877-894-HOME. In Oregon and Idaho, the number to call is 888-995-HOPE.