Fort Lauderdale and the rest of the state of Florida have seen unusually high numbers of foreclosures since the housing crisis began, so homeowner advocates are pleased by, and at the same time somewhat skeptical of, the recent announcement by Bank of America that it will open a large number of new mortgage assistance centers.

Bank of America is one of the biggest mortgage lenders in the country, so if they are finally making some effort to assist distressed homeowners, that may start a welcome trend among other lenders. Up to now, foreclosure seemed to be the lenders' primary answer to any problem. Now they may be seeing that it is in their own best interests to keep homeowners in their homes, if possible.

BofA has twelve assistance centers across the country right now, but plans to increase that number to forty by early summer.

There are an estimated two million homes currently in foreclosure across the country, and Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense attorneys note that there are around two million more borrowers who are in serious default on their loans.

BofA says that it is opening more mortgage assistance centers because many homeowners prefer to discuss their mortgage issues face-to-face, where everyone can look at the same documents at the same time.

The new centers will also have more counselors who speak foreign languages, because the language barrier has been a big roadblock for homeowners in the past.

The reason many homeowner advocates are skeptical of the efficacy of the new centers, though, is that the big lenders have been reluctant in the past to make meaningful mortgage modifications. Unless the banks are willing to help homeowners with modifications, the new centers may not do much more than ease the foreclosure process.

Source: NYT Business "Bank of America to Triple Number of Mortgage Help Centers" 5/5/2011