Preventing Foreclosure & Predatory Loans

Skyrocketing home foreclosures has emerged as one of the top housing issues in the nation. According to the Woodstock Institute, northern Cook County experienced the largest growth in properties with foreclosure filings.

Preventing Foreclosures in Chicago's Northern Suburbs

Interfaith Housing Center is currently one of only two non-profit HUD-certified housing counseling agencies to offer this counseling service in north suburban Cook County. In addition to English, staff are fluent in Polish, Russian, and Spanish. Interfaith’s free and confidential foreclosure prevention services include:

• Educating borrowers about the options available;
• Acting as the liaison between borrower and lender;
• Re-negotiating loans at terms acceptable to both lender and borrower, or making referrals to a new lender;
• Filing a “hardship request” to defer payments for financial or medical reasons; and
• Referring troubled borrowers to legal and financial resources.

In preparing to make an appointment with Interfaith, our housing counselors need you to COPY your mortgage documents. Click here for the documents you need to provide us.

Evanston Foreclosure Prevention Partnership
**The Interfaith Housing Center now has office hours at the Evanston Civic Center to counsel Evanston individual residents concerned about affording their mortgages in addition to full-time hours at Interfaith's Winnetka headquarters. To make an appointment, contact (847) 501-5760 ext. 404, or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Housing counseling staff speak Polish, Russian, and Spanish in addition to English. Interfaith is a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. All services are free of charge and confidential.

To find a HUD-certified housing counseling agency in Illinois outside Chicago’s northern suburbs, click here.

On July 1, 2008 a new Illinois law (SB 1167) helps protect borrowers from risky loans, fraudulent lending, and predatory practices. This law mandates housing counseling for families seeking a mortgage or refinancing who meet certain criteria including blemished credit.

What Are Predatory Loans?

Some foreclosures are the result of predatory lending. Predatory lending is a term used to describe the abusive practices of a lender who pressures or deceives a borrower to take on a debt that is beyond his/her ability to repay.

Bad mortgages aren’t the only kind of predatory loans. Home improvement scams, junk fees and bait-and-switch practices also fleece homeowners of hard-earned money.

What is Subprime Lending?

Some predatory lending takes the form of subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs. Lenders who offer these products claim that the increased risk of these borrowers requires them to charge higher interest rates and additional fees.

Subprime lending, when done fairly, may provide a homeowner with damaged credit a second chance. However, such loans are frequently offered by unscrupulous lenders who do not factor in the ability to repay the loan. ARM products start borrowers with two to three years of modest monthly payments, often interest-only, which then reset and adjust rapidly upward leaving many borrowers in serious financial trouble and vulnerable to foreclosure.

Don't Become a Victim

Although predatory lenders often prey on older adults, those with poor credit, the less educated, and racial minorities, victims of predatory lending are represented in all walks of life. If you answer “yes” to these questions, you may be in a predatory situation:

• Are you making higher payments on your loan than you expected?
• Did the lender inflate your income during the application process?
• Were you led into a high-interest rate mortgage when you could have qualified for a mortgage with a lower interest rate?
• Have you incorrectly been charged late fees?
• Were you only offered a loan with a pre-payment penalty?
• Did the original terms or conditions of the loan change at closing?
• Have you been harassed by your lender? Or, has your lender stopped being responsive about your questions or concerns after the loan was made?

You Should Know

Predatory lending is illegal in Illinois. You are protected by law against abusive practices.

If a loan to consolidate debt or provide extra cash seems too good to be true, it probably is. Don't sign anything that doesn’t seem right, even if the lender tells you "it's the only way to get the loan through." Access more tips from our Resource Page.

Know that Interfaith can help. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call our Housing Counselors (847-501-5760, ext. 404 or 405) for help. Remember that in preparing to make an appointment with Interfaith, our housing counselors need you to COPY your mortgage documents. Click here for a list of the documents you need to provide us. Our staff will review your case and paperwork, inform you of your options, and offer appropriate help. Our services are free and confidential.