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Links and Publications
Coalition for Responsible
Lending
- Fair Loans - Fair Housing:
Your Guide to Avoiding Predatory Loans (2003 Ed.)
Packet of consumer materials from the Seattle/King County
Coalition for Responsible Lending. Information found in this
packet in included throughout this website, particularly in
"Homeowners if you think
your loan is unfair" and "Avoid
being a victim" sections.
- Predatory Lending Handbook for Lay Advocates
Material from this handbook are found in the "Housing
Professionals & Advocates"section of this website.
Credit Resources
- NCLC Guide to Surviving Debt: A Guide for Consumers
(2002 Ed.)
448 pages. $19. In bookstores nationwide or call 617-542-9595.
- American Consumer Credit Counseling
www.consumercredit.com/index.html
American Consumer Credit Counseling can assist you in providing
workable solutions for your financial problems. ACCC is a
non-profit organization offering confidential and professional
debt counseling to consumers throughout the United States.
Bankruptcy
Resources
The American Bankruptcy Institute's (ABI) Consumer Information
Center was created to help those in the general public
seeking information about bankruptcy, its terminology,
the filing process and where to find local assistance.
Legal
Resources
Neighborhood Legal Clinics
(206) 340-2593 Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. to noon to schedule
an appointment
Located throughout the King County area Neighborhood Legal
Clinics provide a free half-hour consultation with an attorney.
Attorneys determine whether the client has a legal problem,
suggest possible options and provide appropriate referrals.
However, attorneys do not represent clients in court or draft
legal documents. These clinics address a wide variety of civil
legal issues including family law, landlord/tenant, real estate
and public benefits. We have specialty clinics on immigration,
debtor/creditor, senior issues and domestic violence as well
as clinics serving the Hispanic and Pan-Asian communities.
Clients can from Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 12 noon to schedule
an appointment at one of our 22 clinics. The clinics are open
to any resident of King County, regardless of income.
AARP Legal Services
800-424-3410
www.aarp.org/lsn
Where available, the AARP Legal Services Network provides
a list of attorneys screened by AARP for work with older Americans,
as well as discounts on legal services and free half-hour
consultations.
Lawyer
Referral Services
· King County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service
Monday - Friday,
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. at 206-623-2551.
· Non-profit lawyer referral services in other Washington
Counties
- Pierce County 253-383-3432
- Snohomish County 425-388-3018
- Kitsap County 360-377-0053
- Thurston County 360-923-4844
- Lewis County 360-748-0430
- Clark County at 360-695-0599.
Northwest Justice Project
888-201-1014 outside King County or 888-387-7111 (60 &
over)
www.nwjustice.org
NJP is a non-profit organization that provides free civil
legal services to low-income people and seniors (60+) statewide,
including those seeking assistance with predatory loan issues
and foreclosures. NJP operates a toll-free statewide intake
and referal system called CLEAR (Coordinated Legal Education,
Advice and Referral) and CLEAR Sr. for callers age 60 and
over.
Volunteer Legal Services
206-623-2551
Volunteers represent low-income clients in a wide range of
civil cases. Assistance is provided in the areas of debtor-creditor
and collection matters, consumer matters, housing matters,
public benefits, tort defense, and wills and estate planning.
VLS provides representation to clients who are in a defensive
posture, but occasionally assists clients with an affirmative
action if such action is necessary to preserve a basic need,
such as recovery of the clients only possessions or housing
maintenance.
Community
Resources
AARP
800-517-9348 or 206-517-9348
www.aarp.org/statepages/wa.html
Provides information and education to consumers on predatory
lending, shopping for a home loan, home improvement fraud,
and how to reduce unwanted calls and mail.
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN®)
206-723-5845
www.acorn.org
ACORN®, the Association of Community Organizations for
Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization
of low- and moderate-income families, with over 100,000 member
families organized into 500 neighborhood chapters in 40 cities
across the country. Since 1970 ACORN® has taken action
and won victories on issues of concern to our members. Priorities
include: better housing for first time homebuyers and tenants,
living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our
communities from banks and governments, and better public
schools. We achieve these goals by building community organizations
that have the power to win changes - through direct action,
negotiation, legislation, and voter participation. Geographic
area served: King County south of I-90.
Better Business Bureau of Oregon and Washington
206-431-2211
www.orwwabbb.org
The Better Business Bureau is a not-for-profit, private organization
with the goal of maintaining fair and honest business dealings
between consumers and businesses in our community.
Consumers can file complaints with the BBB involving marketplace
activities -misleading advertising, improper selling practices,
non-delivery of goods or services, misrepresentation, un-honored
guarantees or warranty, unsatisfactory service, credit/billing
problems, and contracts not being fulfilled.
The BBB works to facilitate communication between the company
and the consumer, to help both sides come to a satisfactory
resolution to the complaint. In many cases, dispute resolution,
including mediation and arbitration may be available to help
resolve the dispute.
Community Home Ownership Center
206-587-5641 or 800-317-2918
www.choc-wa.org
The Community Home Ownership Center (CHOC) provides information,
education, counseling and referral to promote, encourage and
support home ownership. CHOC emphasizes services to low and
moderate income individuals and families. CHOC also provides
education and information to realtors. Geographic area
served: Statewide
Consumer Counseling Northwest
253-588-1858 or 800-244-1183
www.ccnw.org
Consumer Counseling Northwest is a member of the National
Foundation for Credit Counseling, a network of independently
governed non-profit agencies that strive to help consumers
solve debt problems and find alternatives to bankruptcy. Offices
are located throughout the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Fair Housing Center of South Puget Sound
253-274-9523 or 888-766-8800
www.hud.gov/local/sea/ta_fhcsp.html
The Fair Housing Center of South Puget Sound provides fair
housing education to housing consumers and providers, as well
as investigation and enforcement of fair housing laws to address
discriminatory practice in rental, sales, financing, and insurance.
The Fair Housing Center of South Puget Sound conducts fair
housing audits and provides testing to identify discrimination.
The Center is also available to assist owners in testing for
discrimination among their own rental properties
Fremont Public Association
206-694-6766 or 866-297-4300
www.fremontpublic.org
The Fremont Public Association provides answers to questions
about foreclosure prevention for homeowners. Fremont also
advocates on behalf of the homeowner to establish a loss mitigation
strategy for past due mortgage payments. Counseling is available
on how homeowners can avoid predatory lending practices. Fremont
provides some financial assistance to homeowners to prevent
loss of their housing. Fremont also provides education on
budgeting for consumers. In addition Fremont gives information
and counseling to senior citizens on reverse mortgages. Fremont
can also help advocates determine which government agency
is the best resource for consumers they are assisting.
Note: Financial assistance is only available in certain parts
of King County.
HomeSight
206-723-4355 or 888-749-HOME (4663)
www.homesightwa.org
HomeSight is a community development corporation serving
Seattle, South King County and Snohomish County. The organization
works to create community investment through the development
of affordable housing for first-time owners. HomeSight also
serves as a lender to first-time home buyers. In addition,
HomeSight provides home buyer education classes, counseling
and housing development.
International District Housing Alliance
206-623-0122
Home ownership 1,2,3 program provides bi-lingual homebuyer
education and one-on-one housing counseling services in Chinese
(up to 5 dialects), Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. The
agency will provide language support to clients seeking mortgage
default counseling and will play a key role in the translation
of Coalition materials.
Seattle Central Community College
Community Outreach Partnership Center
206-903-3246
Seattle Central has received a three-year HUD grant for their
Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). This center
was set up to involve the community in the college's curriculum.
The college has included a housing program module within the
COPC program and provides financial literacy education.
Serves Seattle's Central Area
Seattle King County Association of Realtors
(425) 820-3277
www.nwrealtor.com
The Seattle-King County Association of REALTORS® (SKCAR)
is a real estate trade association whose primary members are
licensed real estate practitioners. Each REALTOR® is also
a member of the Washington Association of REALTORS® (WAR)
and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). In addition,
SKCAR's membership includes many real estate related companies
that offer services to real estate practitioners and the home
buying/selling
Senior Services of Seattle
888-4ELDERS (435-3377) or 206-448-3110
Senior Services offers referrals to community resources such
as housing, health care, transportation, nutrition and senior
rights.
Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle
206-461-3792
www.urbanleague.org
Provides HUD-certified housing counseling for low to moderate-income
residents of Seattle and King County. Counseling includes
pre-purchase, pre-rental, and mortgage delinquency or default
counseling, financial planning, predatory lending, information
about HUD subsidized programs, and reverse mortgage information
and counseling for seniors. Serves greater Seattle metropolitan
area
Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers
425-827-3547
www.wamb.org
The Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers is a non-profit
organization established in 1986 to promote the highest standards
of business practices and ethics among its members. WAMB's
over 400 member companies employ thousands of industry professionals
throughout the state.
WA State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC)
206-464-7139 or 800-767-4663
www.wshfc.org
WSHFC sponsors free 5-hour classes that are taught by industry
professions (lenders, non-profits, real estate agents) in
an unbiased, non-sales oriented environment. The commission
also offers below market interest rate first mortgages and
down payment assistance
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