JPMorgan Chase & Co. opened its second Homeownership Center this week in Arizona to help struggling families handle mortgage payments.
The facility, located at 444 W. Broadway in Tempe, will host an open house March 30, when Chase mortgage counselors will make a brief presentation on the modification process for local nonprofit leaders and government officials.
?We created these local centers so our borrowers can sit down and discuss their situation face-to-face with trained loan advisors in these challenging times,? said David Schneider, head of mortgage servicing at Chase, in a statement. ?They are part of our wide-ranging initiative to help families stay in their homes whenever possible.?
Since 2007, the New York financial giant helped prevent more than 900,000 home foreclosures across the country, according to the company. As of December 2009, Chase offered about 600,000 new trial loan modifications to struggling homeowners, officials said.
A year ago, Chase open its first Arizona loan service in north Phoenix, with hopes of minimizing foreclosures and helping struggling families make mortgage payments.
Despite the bank?s initiative, many consumers continue to criticize efforts from large financial institutions such as Chase, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America to stem the foreclosure crises. Many borrowers have told the Phoenix Business Journal they continue to get to the run around and reworking loans in this environment is incredibly difficult.
Last year, 92,292 homes were sold in Arizona and foreclosures accounted for 69.7 percent of all sales, according to Arizona MLS Regional data.
Arizona ended 2009 with the nation?s second-highest home foreclosure rate, according to RealtyTrac. More than 163,000 Arizona properties received foreclosure notices in 2009, about 6.12 percent of homes.
Nevada, with a 10.17 percent foreclosure rate, was the only state with a higher rate.
Arizona?s 2009 foreclosure rate was 40 percent higher than in 2008 and more than three times higher than in 2007.
Nationwide, 3.9 million filings were recorded in 2009 on 2.8 million properties, or 2.21 percent of the housing supply. That?s a 21 percent jump compared with 2008, according to the report.