Attorney General McKenna to announce new grant to prevent foreclosures

Rob McKenna
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
1125 Washington Street SE · PO Box 40100 · Olympia WA 98504-0100
Sept. 12, 2011
SEATTLE – Counseling centers to help homeowners hold on to their homes can barely keep up with demand. The Washington Homeownership Resource Center, based in Shoreline, operates the state hotline for homeowners in crisis. Counselors there respond to more than 2,000 callers a month, connecting them with pro-bono attorneys or HUD-approved counselors who guide borrowers through the process of negotiating with lenders in order to work out affordable payments. Counselors also act as “gatekeepers” for the new mediation process under the Foreclosure Fairness Act. 
Attorney General Rob McKenna will visit the counseling center on Tuesday as he announces his office’s latest grant – from a settlement with one of the big banks – to support free counseling for families fighting off foreclosure. He’ll be joined by counselors who work daily with struggling homeowners. Reporters will have an opportunity to tour the counseling center and see it in action.
WHAT:                                       
News conference announcing grant to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC)
WHO:
· Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna
· Karen Miller, Chair, Washington State Housing Finance Commission
· Marc Coté, Director, Homeownership Program, Parkview Services and Washington Homeownership Resource Center
· Housing counselors Marnie Claywell, Parkview Services and Candace Sheehan, Washington Homeownership Resource Center
· Homeowners who have been helped by counseling from WHFC have also been invited to appear and speak to reporters


WHEN:                                     


10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13


WHERE:
Washington Homeownership Resource Center/Parkview Services
18551 Aurora Avenue North
Shoreline, Washington 98133


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Contacts: 
Dan Sytman, AGO Media Relations Manager, (360) 586-7842