Preston Does His Best to Stop Foreclosures

Steve Preston had humble beginnings. The native from Janesville, Wisonsin, who is now tasked the humungous job to help stop foreclosures spent his childhood shuttling between small apartments and houses. It is from this experience that he now partly draws on as secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development, an agency which has gotten mixed reviews in its efforts to stop foreclosures.

The federal agency secretary, who has been in service for only 176 days, already has his share of critics however. According to Austin King, financial justice director for the community advocacy group Acorn, Preston has not proposed a more aggressive plan to stop foreclosure.

This year, 700, 000 homes nationwide have been seized by lenders because of foreclosure, with more than 6, 000 homes in Wisconsin lost to foreclosure. Numbers are expected to increase for the next year.

However, there are those who say that to stop foreclosure fast is a hard task, and that Preston has done all he can considering that he inherited the problem from Alphonso Jackson who was accused of cronyism and had to step down.

Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Operating Officer John Courson says that Preston is decisive and competent. He cites that the HUD Secretary made the Bush administration’s Hope for Homeowners foreclosure program workable, as he was tasked to do. According to Courson, making the program mandatory, as critics wanted, was beyond Preston’s turf.

Past HUD secretary John Kemp also gave Preston the thumbs up and says that he has done a great job of preparing for Obama’s administration.

Preston also says that his agency has provided government help to stop foreclosure through the Hope for Homeowners program which has been able to refinance the loans of 400, 000 people. Speaking before the National Press Club just last week, Preston emphasized that even the government had limits in addressing the foreclosure problem.

Hopefully, the next administration will be able to come up with more viable programs to help stop foreclosure.