Persons facing or in foreclosure may obtain help from Susan Bardsley, foreclosure intervention specialist at the Winslow Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) office. She is a native of Winslow.
Bardsley works with clients from four counties: Navajo, Apache, Coconino and Yavapai. Her work is mostly by phone at (928) 289-6496 or 289-2156, but she may be seen at the NACOG office at 301 W. Second St. in Winslow.
Anyone seeking a foreclosure mediator may profit from contacting Bardsley. If a person is facing or in foreclosure, she can attempt to negotiate with the lender or other involved party. She may help even if the person has been denied modification.
Bardsley claims to have had success in approximately 85 percent of the cases in which she has negotiated. She said that this includes some 45 cases in which there were significant modifications to avoid foreclosure.
Some of the help that a person facing or in foreclosure might find and which Bardsley uses are “Save My Home AZ” and “Making Home Affordable,” which are available online. “Save My Home AZ” is a program under which persons who meet all of the qualifications could get as much as $50,000 from a grant. While by no means all facing foreclosure will meet qualifications, some will and may receive at least some financial assistance. “Making Home Affordable” (also known as the Obama Plan) will help those who qualify get modifications.
NACOG is a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved counseling agency, and is available at no cost to the client seeking to avoid foreclosure and obtain loan modification.
Bardsley said that she would advise any person facing foreclosure or already in foreclosure to contact her for help as soon as possible. The chances of success are greater if the process is started early, and successfully negotiating with the lender is well worth the effort.
