community
september1
Community Action Team: Resources for Homeowners
materials at www.OregonHomeowner-
Help.org, but a few of the preliminary
ones are: the home must be the owners’
primary residence and a single family
unit (including condominiums and town
houses); in Columbia County the un-
paid principal on the loan must be less
than $418,750; and projected household
gross income for 2016 is capped at 120%
of the state median income based on
the number of people in the home. For
example, a two-occupant household’s
maximum gross income is $60,840, for
a household of four it is $76,080. Partici-
pants are required to periodically report
their income to demonstrate continued
eligibility. Prior recipients of OHSI as-
sistance are not eligible. The number for
MPA inquiries to OHSI is (503) 986-
2025.
Columbia County has a dedicat-
ed MPA counselor located at their main
office in St. Helens. Sally McLaughlin
is available to meet with homeowners
in person or over the phone (503) 366-
6544). Households in Clatsop and Tilla-
mook Counties can contact Nicole Mar-
tin in Astoria at the numbers listed at the
end of this article. They can review all
the options that may be helpful in your
particular situation. The MPA applica-
tion is handled on a case-by-case basis,
so it is critical to have all the details in
line when it’s submitted.
It is always important to start
exploring your options as soon as pos-
sible. If you’re already behind on your
payments, don’t wait to see “if next
month will be better.” It gets harder to
catch up each time you turn a page of
the calendar. CAT staff recognize how
hard it can be to ask for help, but that’s
exactly why they’re there. As with all
client relationships, confidentiality is a
vital priority, so you can trust your per-
sonal information will remain private.
This program is funded with tax dollars
to support Oregon residents when un-
anticipated challenges arise; there is no
shame in seeking assistance.
When someone is facing the
prospect of mortgage foreclosure and
they don’t qualify for the MPA program,
CAT also has resources managed by
Nicole Martin to help those homeown-
ers. Foreclosure Prevention services
are available as soon as someone real-
izes they are struggling to pay the mort-
gage. They do not have to have received
a foreclosure notice and CAT is able to
serve households at any economic lev-
el. Martin helps clients review all their
debt, their budget and other variables in
order to create a Plan of Action.
If a household is three or more
payments behind on their mortgage and
foreclosure is imminent, the Oregon
Foreclosure Avoidance Program (OFAP)
ensures homeowners have the opportu-
nity to meet with and negotiate a fore-
closure avoidance measure with their
mortgage lender. The borrower must re-
quest a resolution conference and pay a
fee of $175 ($50 if low-income require-
ments are met). Both parties provide
extensive documentation that is coor-
dinated through CAT’s certified OFAP
Counselor Cindy Peake, who is based in
Astoria but is in Columbia County twice
a week. The first conference occurs face-
to-face within 75 days of the request and
involves the homeowner, Peake, a state-
appointed facilitator and the lender’s
attorney. In addition, the lender’s mort-
Three positions on the Vernonia
City Council (Mayor and two
Councilors) will be open for the
General Election in November.
Vernonia City Council
Meetings
and Closures
The following persons are running
for City Council:
Two Council positions
(4-year term)
Bruce McNair (incumbant)
Mike Buffum
Susan Wagner
City Council Meetings
are scheduled for 7:00 pm:
The following persons are
running for Mayor:
One Mayor position (2-year term)
Kim Tierney
Mario P. Leonetti
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Monday, September 19, 2016
City Closures
are scheduled for:
Monday, September 5, 2016
Labor Day
Dates and times subject to change
due to conflicts of schedules
Vernonia Police Blotter August 15-29, 2016
REPORTS TAKEN
• August 17, 2016 Vehicle Impounded
near Madison Ave. and Maple St.
• August 18, 2016 Arrest near Stoney
Point Rd. on a warrant
• August 19, 2016 Arrest for Driving While
Suspended near Weed Ave. and Maple St.
• August 21, 2016 Arrest for Driving
Under the Influence and Driving While
Suspended near Bridge St. and Grant
Ave.
• August 25, 2016 Report of Theft of
Services
CITATIONS/OTHER
• August 19, 2016 Cited for Driving While
Suspended near Bridge St. and Weed
Ave.
• August 20, 2016 Cited for Driving While
Suspended, and Driving Uninsured near
Rose Ave. and Cougar St.
• August 20, 2016 Cited for Driving While
Suspended near Rose Ave. and Cougar
St.
• August 25, 2016 Cited for Violation of
an Open Container near Washington Ave.
and North St.
• August 28, 2016 Cited for Operating a
Vehicle Without Privileges near Bridge St.
and State St.
Vernonia Police Department responds
to calls that do not always end in Arrest,
Report, or Citation. 08/15/2016 through
08/29/2016 VPD had 131 calls for service.
gage department representative is pres-
ent over the phone. Often times the pro-
cess requires multiple meetings.
Since Oregon lawmakers creat-
ed OFAP with the passing of Senate Bill
558 in August 2013, CAT has worked
with 350 homeowners in Columbia,
Clatsop, and Tillamook Counties. This
law requires mortgage lenders to meet
and negotiate with their borrowers when
they have trouble paying their loan. The
majority of mortgage holders who have
wanted to stay in their home have been
successful in negotiating new terms with
their lender. There are three typical types
of agreement: modification of the origi-
nal loan, creating a repayment plan, or
reinstating the account by paying the
balance of the missed payments.
And, there may be conditions
that lead a homeowner to not want to
keep the home. They are encouraged
to contact CAT as well in order to learn
more about the options that include a
deed-in-lieu, short sale, or simply walk-
ing away and allowing the foreclosure to
proceed.
Every household has different
circumstances and variables to con-
sider. CAT housing counselors take the
time to learn about a client’s situation so
they can be the best advocate for them.
These negotiations are complicated and
can take months, even more than a year,
so it’s important to have someone who
knows the intricacies standing by your
side.
There are other ways CAT can
help too. They offer one-on-one finan-
cial readiness counseling to help with
budgeting, getting out of debt, and im-
2016
5
continued from front page
proving credit worthiness. These servic-
es are available to anyone, even non-ho-
meowners. Frequently CAT hears from
residents who have arranged a reverse
mortgage and then find themselves in a
bind with property taxes. Laws are dif-
ferent for reverse mortgages. There are
situations when it can be beneficial, but
it is absolutely critical to be fully in-
formed. CAT can also help with that.
To find out more about how Community
Action Team programs might be able to
help with your home mortgage, please
call (503) 325-8098, 1-800-325-8098 or
visit www.cat-team.org/nworhc.
Leanne Murray works at Community Ac-
tion Team in the Human Investment De-
partment
291
A
Street
call Kim
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