These are the kinds of classes that cost nothing and can save you thousands. Some of these classes will teach homebuyers how to avoid the subprime mortgage crisis, and other classes will teach homeowners how to survive it.
City officials introduced the city foreclosure prevention programs, a way for people to avoid facing foreclosure, like the 4,000 people have in San Jose in the past 18 months.
San Jose is giving $250,000 dollars to neighborhood housing services Silicon Valley for homebuyer education classes, they start next week. Jaime Angulo says his organization, a non profit, has never had a client go into foreclosure.
"We have been selecting carefully the families and getting them the right loans for them to pay on a house they can afford," said Jaime Angulo, neighborhood housing services.
"It's mainly hitting the condo market. The condos are usually the first homes people buy, those are the ones that got the teaser rates and were allowed to borrow money for far more then they could afford. Those are the ones getting hit very dramatically and its very sad " said Larry Stone, Santa Clara County Assessor.
The city has also given about $230,000 for foreclosure counseling and education, one on one classes are also available. They have been going on for a few months now since they started to get a noticeable down here - the foreclosure rate in San Jose. The hope is that a person who understands how to buy and sell a house and what the lenders are doing will be better equipped to deal with the market.
