Nonprofits, like the Maine Housing Counselor Network and Pine Tree Legal Assistance, have been conducting foreclosure prevention workshops across the state of Maine. They have decided to hold workshops to respond to the rising number of calls received by housing counselors. It is possible that some of the callers are persons who recently lost properties to tax foreclosures.

According to Chet Randall, a staff attorney and member of the counseling nonprofit Pine Tree Legal Assistance, there are counselors willing to help borrowers at risk of foreclosures, both lender foreclosures and tax foreclosures, but there are just too many callers they do not have time to serve everyone in one day.

Randall related that the goal of the workshops is to help attendees decide on which steps to pursue to keep themselves safe from foreclosure. Participants are also given sample letters and documents for them to use as guides when they do their own paperwork. They are also given sheets that describe the steps of the legal foreclosure process. Persons troubled by tax foreclosures can pick up some pointers from these workshops.

Randall and other presenters offer practical tips and instructions during the workshops. Even persons not bothered by lender foreclosures but tax foreclosures can learn from the suggestions. The presenters advise troubled borrowers to ignore individuals and companies offering help for a fee. Borrowers should not be awed when these entities send documents showing they are knowledgeable about their cases and that they have helped a lot of borrowers. Randall said lots of information on pending foreclosures can be taken from court filings open to the public.

The presenters advise attendees to negotiate with the mortgage lenders, even if at first, the lenders seem uninterested and unhelpful. Borrowers should not accept the first offer from the lender if the proposed monthly payment is not affordable. It is an additional blot on one's record if a person signs a modified loan only to default on the second month because the monthly payment is clearly beyond one's means. Similarly for individuals with pending tax foreclosures, their negotiations with tax officials should be realistic.

The workshop held by Randall's organization was the fifth foreclosure prevention workshop held in Maine. Persons troubled not by lender foreclosures but by tax foreclosures could also benefit from the workshops.

To show their support for troubled homeowners, several officials from the Maine State Housing Authority also attended Pine Tree's workshop to help answer questions. Officials representing federal agencies answered questions on the legal steps that mortgage lenders need to follow to proceed with the foreclosure process without violations.