By Robert Lewis
The Sacramento Bee
Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage finance company,
recently unveiled a website aimed at helping homeowners facing
foreclosure.
The site
– www.KnowYourOptions.com – features an interactive video where
actors show the consequences of decisions to real life homeowner
situations. Much like a
”
Choose Your Own Adventure
”
book, users can role-play as various types of distressed
homeowners and choose to go down a number of different paths.
Should you stop making payments on your mortgage? Do you answer the
phone when the mortgage lender calls? Should you call the company
that sent you a letter claiming to be able to save your home? Each
decision leads to a different video showing the consequences.
By Robert Lewis
The Sacramento Bee
Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage finance company, recently unveiled a website aimed at helping homeowners facing foreclosure.
The site – www.KnowYourOptions.com – features an interactive video where actors show the consequences of decisions to real life homeowner situations. Much like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, users can role-play as various types of distressed homeowners and choose to go down a number of different paths. Should you stop making payments on your mortgage? Do you answer the phone when the mortgage lender calls? Should you call the company that sent you a letter claiming to be able to save your home? Each decision leads to a different video showing the consequences.
Spoiler alert: Choosing to not answer the phone when the mortgage company calls does not lead to good things – at least according to the giant mortgage financier.
The interactive feature – called WaysHome – is an effort to guide struggling homeowners to short- and long-term solutions, according to Fannie Mae.
“In 2011, an estimated 4 million homes will be at imminent risk of foreclosure. As we enter a new year, the company is expanding its efforts to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure – WaysHome is an innovative tool to help achieve this goal,” Jeff Hayward, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President is quoted as saying in a press release announcing the new site.
