Surprise's Web site offers help to residents facing foreclosures

Surprise's public information office submitted this information about a new city Web site.

The city of Surprise has launched a Web site where residents struggling with home mortgage issues can find resources to assist them.

The site is listed as "Foreclosure Help" under "Living in Surprise" on the city Web site, www.surpriseaz.com. The site gives residents directions for contacting HUD-certified foreclosure counselors as well as finding foreclosure intervention and resolution services.

"The site will help people find resources if they are facing foreclosure, are getting behind in their payments, and even if they are in immediate need of housing," said city Communications Director Ken Lynch.

"It is the result of the City Council's action in accepting staff recommendations on how to implement the work of the council-appointed Foreclosure Committee."

the site is the latest move in the city's ongoing, aggressive response to the foreclosure and mortgage situation in Surprise. In September, the city and the Foreclosure Committee organized a citywide "Home Preservation Forum" that brought hundreds of city residents together with a panel of certified counselors to answer mortgage-related questions and take part in free counseling services.

The city is in the midst of a public comment period on a plan to secure more than $2 million from the federal Neighborhood Preservation Fund. Since June the City Council has sponsored two neighbor cleanups to keep neighborhoods looking good despite heavy foreclosure activity.